The Toronto Files
by Cousin Raven
Summary: A mini series of 10 stories that added characters and situations. (200K)


Intro for fanfiction.net: 

This story was posted to the fan fiction list in the past. In the future I intend to revamp it completely--maybe change a bit here and there. All comments are welcome. 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: Friends and Enemies Date: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 11:36 PM 

The Toronto Files-Installment 1 -------------------- Friends and Enemies by Cousin Raven 

Note: This takes place sometime in the 3rd season, before Ashes to Ashes and Human Factor. (No spoilers) Note 2: Nothing in this fiction was intended to offend anyone in any way. Please don't take offense. This is all in fun, and the spirit of creativity. Note 3: I've added a few characters. I'd like to call them mine. If you'd like to use them, please ask, as I am trying to make a series or something out of them. (Depending on feedback) --------------------- (Start Section 1 of 9) 

Ko-ran stared across the street at the Raven. Lucien was in there. He knew it. 

All of the years they'd spent apart flooded back to him. The fights, the struggles, the meals. It had been a long time. Ko-ran's thoughts wandered back to when he'd first seen Lucien. They were both mortal then, and had fought together. He was just a soldier, but Lucien was the General. They'd never talked when they were mortal. Why would a general talk to a foot soldier? Ah, but later, after he'd changed, he'd seen Lucien in a crowded marketplace, looking for a meal. He smiled with the thought of it. It must've been around...let's see...200 or 210. He didn't even remember where it was. 

It wasn't important really, only that he was alive. Word had gotten back to him his entire family had perished when Vesuvius erupted. It was a quiet, lonely time. He didn't know what to do or say. He'd been guarding one of the senators who was in port to bargain for safe passage through certain trade routes. Quite boring compared to the battle he'd rather have been at. Still, it was a job, something he took pride in. His father once scolded him, "You'd be proud if your job was to clean dirt from the emperor's toes." He smiled at the memory. His father, long dust, buried in the volcanic ash with the rest of his family. Memories, just dust in the wind. 

The two with him urged him forward. They were hungry. They were tired. It had been a long night and they were in need of some serious feeding. He knew this, even though they were not his brood. Orphans they were, and he took them under his wing, at least until they could get a good start on life. It gave him a feeling of purpose. The two he protected at the moment were not related to each other, but quite distinct and apart. One, a female with blond hair and blue eyes, had been an accident. Her master, Glum, had been rather careless. The enforcers got him soon after his mistake with her. The enforcers never even knew she existed. She'd lain in a garbage dump for two days, half dead, covered in trash. On the third night he found her, broken and starved. He'd procured her first meal, and he'd been unable to get her to live on her own as yet. She'd been a prostitute in her previous mortal life, named "Popsicle", her real name was Cynthia. Now, he and everyone else called her "Sin". It was a good name. Quite ironic when he thought about it. 

His other companion was a dark skinned bald jock type, right off the college football team. His name was Tres, and he was tough. At least that was one's first impression. Ko-ran had found the orphan in New York City, feeding from cab drivers and stealing their money. Wasn't easy to get him to give up that life. It was an easy living, but the enforcers were wary. Ko-ran smiled. Even after all these years, the enforcers had never bothered him. Apparently he was doing _something_ right. 

*********************************** (End Section 1) 

(Start Section 2) 

Lucien was preoccupied tonight. He didn't know what it was, but his mind kept wandering. He found himself thinking of life before he'd been a vampire, when he was mortal, the true unlife as he saw it. He shuffled music around looking for just the right tunes to add mood to tonight's monologue. His mind drifted back... 

"Lucius! Lucius!" His mother called and called. He'd smiled and run off again. It was fun, a kind of way to test his parents, to see exactly how much he could get away with. Life in that sleepy Roman town was boring. He just wanted out. He'd climbed the battlements and watched the soldiers march and drill. They were outstanding. He'd told his mother time and time again that's what he wanted to do when he got older. She'd smile a kind of wistful smile. Only much later did he learn the reason for her behavior. Lucius was the third son of a relatively wealthy family. The first son, DiCesare had died in a battle with the Celts when Lucius was only three. His second brother, Romad, was still alive and several years ahead of Lucius. 

Even as a boy, Lucius had been a fighter. Even though Romad had seven years on him, Lucius still won every battle. When Lucius was 10, Romad announced he was going to seek out the followers of the supposed messiah, Jesus, in Jerusalem. 

Well, hell would've been a more pleasant place to live after that. Their father, a sound upstanding senator would hear none of this. It was his house, and damn it you were going to live by his rules. But that's not how it turned out. Lucius remembered the day Romad had left. 

"But why, Ro-ro? Why must you go? I want you to stay here." It was all futile. Romad left, and Lucius never saw him again. 

It was many years forward when he had already turned a vampire, and Pompeii lay in ashes, when he'd finally been able to look Romad up. He'd bribed, coaxed, and whammied everyone he met until he found out what happened. 

Romad was dead. Accused of treason by the Roman government, and it never even got to trial. A group of townspeople had stoned him on the spot. Quite gruesome, or so they said. Several he talked to were actual witnesses. He'd sucked the memories of that out of them in their blood, just to see Romad one more time, even if it was in death. He'd found his way out to the unmarked grave and wondered, of all people who could've benefited from this gift, why was it given to him? The wanderer, never fond of rules, of regulations. His brother Romad was as pure as crystal clear water, and beautiful, he'd always been that. Apparently, God, if he existed, was indeed not sane. 

It had been many years since he even thought about Romad. Why would these thoughts assail him now? 

He relaxed in his chair and turned the switch. The red "ON-AIR" light came on. 

"Bon soir, mes amis. And how are we this fine evening? Good. Let us talk about the past, not a subject I often discuss, but tonight seems special somehow. 

The past, how it haunts us when we don't even realize it. In a crowded bus, on a city street, we see someone, something, and the past is there again, knocking at our door, wanting to be remembered, like an old forgotten shoe. And these memories, mes amis, they can caress you like a silken flower or burn you like a flaming brand -washing you in longing and regret. 

And isn't it family that burn you the most? The regret becomes all too clear, the memories, like shattered glass, cuts to your very soul." 

*** In his caddie, Nick suddenly turned the radio volume up, annoying Tracy. 

"Why do you listen to him again?" She whined. 

Nick glared at her, and she grew silent. *** 

"Loneliness just seems to intensify the longing, gives the mind more time to dwell on what could have been...what should have been...what can never be again." 

He sighed and thought of Nicholas. So like Romad, so full of fervor to do what was right, so trustful, so naive. Perhaps that is why he could not let Nicholas go, not now, not ever. He needed a brother, and Nicholas was as close as he could ever get. 

"And what of our present, gentle listeners? What of those we hold close to us now? Are we truly doing what's right by them, or will we regret the present in the future?" 

Lucien flipped the switch off, and started the music. He needed a drink, and not that watered down bloodwine, the real thing. He set the console to play a taped version of his show, and slipped out the back door. 

Another quiet Toronto night. He breathed the air, just to feel it fill his lungs. It felt good, somehow, even though he didn't need it. The alley behind the club was quiet, with only the heartbeats of a few quick rats in the dumpster. Hmm...he'd have to get Screed to pay a visit soon. 

With a few quick looks around, he took flight. *** (End section 2) (Start Section 3) 

The park was quiet tonight. Hunting seemed grim. He started to walk around the park. Perhaps his luck would change. 

Coming around a bend in the trail, he was a woman on a park bench. She was crying. Lucien's first impulse was to walk away, but he could never resist the lure of a free meal. He sat down quietly next to her, but did not look at her. 

"Having a bad night?" He tried to sound concerned. She sniffled, and looked up at him. With her big brown eyes full of tears, she could barely see him. 

"I... I'm fine," she stuttered. 

That's when he noticed the bruise on her face. She'd been beaten, severely. 

Lucien understood that at one time, this was acceptable. No longer. She wouldn't leave the bastard, of that he was sure. 

He held her hand, and she started to cry again. He smiled, and bit into her wrist, not a lot, just a little. The blood trickled over his tongue, and he found out what he needed to know, the address of the perpetrator. 

He left her somewhat dazed, but alive, and unaware that he'd ever existed. Her heartbeat still drummed in his mind. "Sleep." She leaned over on the bench and slept. 

He took flight and shot across the Toronto night. That bastard would pay for his aggression, in blood, not because of some sense of chivalry, but from hunger. After all, killing a defenseless woman would solve his problem, but it really wasn't as much fun as stalking a stronger enemy, one who thought, up until the last moment, that he would win. 

Lucien smiled. This would be fun, he was certain of it. 

*** 

Ko-ran, Tres and Sin walked into the front door of the Raven, just as Lucien walked out the back door. Bloodwine smell assailed their nostrils and they moved to the bar. Miklos nodded from behind the bar, and came back with two bottles, and three glasses. Ko-ran smiled gratefully. There would be no donor tonight, unwilling or no. He sat at the bar and drank from the small glass, so delicate in his large hand. Sin and Tres drank their fill then moved to the dance floor. 

At the bar, Ko-ran glanced over the patrons. The mortals were all young, mostly Goth types, with black clothes of varying proportions, and black make up coloring their eyes. They drank wine or beer, and seemed quite at home in the darkness of the club. They ignored him. The vampires were a different matter. They were not hard to find. They stared at him in ultimate fear. Whenever he looked at one, he or she would turn away. He always found this amusing in the past. Not now. These vampires were under Lucius' protection as far as he was concerned, and so were the mortals. Everyone here was off-limits, even if he wanted to make trouble, which he rarely did at any time, and definitely not here, not now. 

When he did not try to mow them down, they quietly returned to their drinks, mortals, or whatever held their fancy. He did not try to stop them. He was here for a drink, perhaps a night or two of rest, and that was it. No trouble. He hated trouble, especially when it was necessary. 

His latest fledged orphan, Dirk, had been taken from his master forcefully. The master, Don, was rather controlling, and violent. He'd beat Dirk to a pulp, just for the fun of it, then he'd pour alcohol on the wounds as they healed just to see him squirm. He was surprised the enforcers hadn't taken action, but he had learned that wasn't their job. Being the self-righteous type, he had. 

He burst into the house just as Don was beginning to beat Dirk for the umpteenth time. Ko-ran might have been an angel of death, and for all Don knew he was. It was a rather unpleasant experience, but Don was successfully destroyed. Dirk had come under his wing, then, just last spring, he'd taken residence in Montreal. So, life went on. 

It was easier now, to let them go. He understood the fledgling need to be on your own. He accepted that. He was just a rung on the ladder of freedom. 

His own children were few, only because so many had given up, gone into the sun. Such was the way of things. Few had the real stamina for true immortality. He had only two living children left. Nelson was living in California, and finding employment as an actor, and the other, Raven, was living in Florida, and working at another club, Hell's Gift, similar to this Raven, another haven for their kind. Rather strange coincidence. 

As he mused, he felt the air pressure change as a back door was opened. Lucius walked into the Raven with a flourish, looking well fed and almost blushing. He gazed over the patrons and then started for his soundbooth, but stopped short. He'd felt _something._ 

He turned around and looked about to locate the source of the feeling. He slowly gazed at each vampire face in the crowd, marking them off on an internal list. He stopped at Sin and Tres. Confusion muttled his features, but quickly dismissing them as the source of the feeling, he simply added them to his internal list, and continued. Just as he was about to shrug it off, his gaze fell on Ko-ran. A shudder seemed to go through him. 

**** (End Section 3) 

(Start Section 4) 

Lucien walked up confidently to the bar, beside Ko-ran. Ko-ran's gaze never left Lucien. Lucien motioned to Miklos, who produced a glass of bloodwine and conveniently disappeared. Lucien gazed into the glass and swirled it a bit. 

"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" His voice was calm, cool, and the ultimate in control Lucien. 

Ko-ran smiled. "Well, Lucius, I've only just stopped by for a night or two, I was hoping we might talk about old times." 

Lucien smiled as he remembered those old times. Hunting in Istanbul, Israel, Italy. It was a long, long time ago. Janette's great-grandmother had yet to be born then. She'd always asked what he'd done in the years before he brought her over, but he'd never spoke about it. "The past is dead," he said, in a sweet melodic voice and looked over at Ko-ran. 

Ko-ran appeared to mull this over. "It's true, we old ones should not dwell upon the past. How about the future? I've got a few orphans who need homes. It appears they've taken a liking to your club." 

Ko-ran gazed out onto the dance floor. Tres and Sin were happily dancing together as if they were the only ones in the room. Lucien watched too. "I was wondering who they belonged to." 

A smile lit Ko-ran's face. "They're not really mine. I don't have many left actually." 

Lucien stared into his wine glass, still full as he had only just fed. "They always leave in the end." 

"No, Lucius, I never held mine. They were always free to do as they wish, as are these orphans. I simply offer companionship, instruction in the art, whatever is needed. They provide their own zest for life. Unfortunately, some of my children were lacking in just that. That is why they are not with me. My children are with me in mind always, but not so in the real world." 

Lucien considered this. "Certainly you wouldn't let them run wild? on their own?" 

Ko-ran smiled broadly as if he was privy to some secret. "They are grown, Lucius. They can take care of themselves. It is not necessary that they keep my company for all eternity. Even I can be boring at times. There is no shortage of companionship. I can make more, I can find more. Life goes on. At least for some of us." 

Lucien stared into his glass, in deep thought. 

**** "But, can't we stop at a Starbucks  and get a cappuccino?" Tracy's mumbling was interrupted by the radio. 

"81-Kilo, 81-Kilo," it squeaked. 

"81-Kilo here," Nick replied. He and Tracy were driving around town, it being a slow night in Toronto for bodies, at least until now. 

"81-Kilo, we've got a body in the vicinity of lake and blossom. Proceed with caution, suspect may still be in the area. Presumed armed and dangerous." 

"81-Kilo, copy." He turned the wheel on the caddie, and made a quick U-turn. "Looks like we're gonna have to skip that cappuccino, Tracy." 

An audible sigh escaped her. "Yeah, I know." 

*** 

Ko-ran looked out on the dance floor. Sin and Tres had placed themselves in a booth at the edge of the dance floor. They appeared to be heavily interested in each others ears. He chuckled to himself. "The young never change." 

Lucien looked up at that remark, following Ko-ran's gaze. Seeing them in such a sensual embrace, he remembered when he'd first brought Nicholas across. He'd been so stimulated by Janette. Even recently she had sent him to the showers. The thought made him smile, until he remembered Janette was no longer in Toronto, not for him, not for Nicholas. His dark mood deepened. 

*** (End Section 4) (Start Section 5) 

Nick and Tracy were directed at the crime scene by a patrolman, a scared young boy in torn jeans was talking to another patrolman nearby. Nick approached the boy first, and was assailed by a strong smell, which he'd come to associate with mortal nausea. He tried to ignore it. 

"You found the body?" Nick asked the queasy boy. He took out a small notepad. "What's your name?" 

Tracy started looking around the corpse for any clues. She looked at the victim. A youngish looking woman, with long wavy brown hair. Her clothes were not those of a working girl, she looked like a college student. She was dressed in black jeans and a white T-shirt, with some kind of writing on it. She wore no makeup of any kind that Tracy could see. 

The medical examiner's van arrived next, with Nat out almost before the vehicle stopped. Nick fought the urge to smile. She was so good at her work. 

At the body, Natalie put on her gloves and started the examination, starting with feeling for a pulse. There was none. 

Uniformed officers started arriving, blocking off the area, and probably screwing up the evidence. 

She continued her preliminary check on the body, checking for time of death, and cause. There were no obvious marks. 

She started to roll her over. The corpse moaned. Natalie stopped dead. She was used to corpses making noise, it was common, but not a "fresh" corpse. They didn't start poping, and burping for at least a day. This did not make sense. She leaned her back down and looked at her eyes. A glint from her tiny flashlight shined back at her from the victim's mouth. Fangs. 

Natalie shot upright and looked around. No one was near, they were all busy controlling the spectators and onlookers. Nobody had noticed a really scared medical examiner jump three feet into the air. She leaned back over her and whispered slowly..."I hope you can hear me. Listen carefully...and don't bite me. You've got to act dead. Hang limp, don't move. I'll help you get where you can get help. Trust me." 

Natalie heard nothing from the victim. Nothing at all. Had she been mistaken? She stood up and said to a passing uniform. "Get the medics to get the body bag over here, I'm done with her." He nodded and left. Before long, the bag was in place, and the body of the very alive, but limp, victim was placed inside. 

She jumped into the driver seat and motioned to one of the two medics. "You can't ride in the back on the way to the morgue, it would be better if you caught a ride with one of the patrolmen." 

He looked confused. "Trust me," she said. He nodded. 

She beeped the horn, and fifty faces turned toward her. "Nick!" she yelled. The other forty-nine faces turned away, and Nick started toward the van. She started the motor. 

"Yeah, Nat?" He appeared nauseous and confused. 

"I've got a problem," she motioned to the back of the van. Her voice dropped to an almost silent whisper. "She's not as dead as everybody thinks...as a matter or fact, I'd say she was quite UN-dead, if you get my drift." 

Nick's eyes widened as he realized what she was saying. "Do you have enough supplies at the morgue?" 

She smiled. "With you around, I always have enough." 

"Hrmp, well, I'll get some extra at the Raven later, maybe find out who's responsible..." 

"Thanks." 

"Uh, Nat?" 

"Yeah, Nick." 

"Be careful. You know it's going to be dangerous. Wait, let me go with you," he looked around. "TRACY!" 

Tracy trotted up to the van. "Yeah, what's up?" 

"Take care of the rest of this, I'm going to offer a hand to our good medical examiner here." 

"Yeah, sure," she flashed a knowing smile at Nick. "I got it, I'll grab a ride with one of the uniforms," she walked back to the scene, grumbling. 

Nick smiled. "She thinks she knows so much, and I know she doesn't. Well, let's go." He got the caddie and slowly followed the van into the Toronto night. *** (End Section 5) (Start Section 6) 

Natalie had never driven so carefully. It seemed she was in tune to her every movement. Being scared to death usually does that to you. 

She pulled into the lot and pulled the gurney out of the back. Nick arrived a minute later and helped her. Soon they were wheeling the 'body' down to the morgue. 

There were no problems on the way to the elevator, thankfully. Nat punched the button for the morgue in the elevator and sighed heavily and the doors closed. She glanced down at the unmoving body bag. Nick smiled at her. "Nat, it'll be okay, promise." She just nodded. 

In the examination room, she took some of the blood bags she kept in the bottom of the *biohazard* refrigerator and poured them into a large beaker with a wide mouth. She put it on the counter and was about to open the body bag when Nick stopped her. "I think I'd better do this. Maybe you should wait outside..." 

"No way, this is research." Nat scoffed. 

"Well, at least let me do it. You can watch. It could get messy, and I don't want you getting hurt." 

Natalie assented and moved to the other side of the room. Nick unzipped the body bag slowly. No sound came from inside. He opened it enough to get her head and shoulders out. "Wake up...I've got something for you." He wiggled the beaker just near her nose. There was no reaction. 

"Nat, I..." Nick's thought was cut off by a very thirsty vampire. The beaker was drained in milliseconds. The next thing Nick saw, she was licking the inside of the beaker. 

"I'll be damned, you were right Nat." The wonder was evident in his voice. 

The 'victim' continued happily licking, not even realizing someone else was there. Finally, the blood was all gone, and she started looking around for more. Her eyes glittered a cold yellow, and small fangs were evident. 

"Got some more, Nat?" Nick spoke quietly. 

The 'victim' looked at Nick with undisguised wonder. Nat tossed Nick another bag from the refrigerator, and he gave it to her. She bit into a corner of it and sucked it like an unfrozen popsicle. She looked at Nick the whole time. 

Finally she finished and looked for a place to put the empty bag. Nat spoke up, "Uh, I'll take that." She took the empty from the 'victim', whose eyes were now a beautiful shade of green. She smiled at Natalie, and that made her nervous. She wasn't sure it was good for a newborn vampire to smile at you. 

"So," Nick spoke up, "What's your name?" 

"Umm...Sarah. What's going on? Who are you?" she whimpered. 

"Well, I'm Nick Knight, this is Natalie Lambert, a coroner, and my friend. I'm a detective investigating your, um, murder. Maybe you could tell me what happened?" 

Sarah appeared to think for a minute. "I was going to try to get an autograph on my shirt," she indicated her now bloody white shirt, "and somebody attacked me on the street, pulled me into an alley. He was big, like a football player...he bit me, that son-of-a..." 

"Now, now, if we can get a description, we can get him. Tell me what he looked like." Nick tried to be soothing. 

Sarah held her head in her hands. "I don't remember." 

"Try," Nick pushed. 

"He was blond, big, long hair. The rest is all a blur." 

"Damn. Nat, can you take care of the reports?" 

Natalie smiled and walked toward them. "Sure. Wouldn't be the first time I had to fudge a report because a body woke up on my table." She smiled knowingly at Nick. 

"I'll take her back to the loft, she'll be safe there, until I she can get on her feet again." 

"Here's some extra clothes, I brought them in case I felt like going to the gym after work." Nat handed Sarah a pink sweatshirt and sweatpants. She took them gratefully. 

"And Nick, just remember, you owe me one, I caught this. It might've been just a little bit messy otherwise." 

"Tell me about it." 

Nick and Sarah trudge out of the morgue, and Natalie heaves a large sigh. "Yup, would've been just a little messy." 

Natalie flashes back to April 14, the night she first met Nick when he woke up on her table. What a birthday present that had been. *** (End Section 6) (Start Section 7) 

Ko-ran looked at Lucien. He looked so much like an old friend, his master. "Lucius, you remind me so of a friend I met once. He was on his way to Israel, to look up the Jew who started the Christian faith. He was so beautiful, the man, not Jesus. I never met Jesus. I was too young, and not yet a changed when he died. Pity, his blood would've been fine ambrosia." 

Of all of this flew by Lucien in a great flood. All he heard was "...friend...on his way to Israel..." He stared at Ko-ran so hard, he stopped talking. "What? Did I spill?" Ko-ran looked down on his spotless black shirt. Lucien said one word, "Romad." 

Ko-ran's eyes went wide. He stuttered, "Lucius, I had no idea you knew him, I..." 

Lucien's eyes had turned golden. "You knew Romad. How?" 

"Uh," Ko-ran was not quite sure he should've said anything. 

"Romad was stoned when he was only twenty. How could you know him?" 

Ko-ran hesitated. "He was stoned, but he was not killed. He was a vampire." 

The realization struck Lucien like a load of bricks in a steel bag. "Where is he?" 

Ko-ran's eyes got sad, and blood tears began to form. "Lucien, I'm sorry, he...he walked into the sun. He didn't know you survived Pompeii. It happened probably about 100 or so, I'm so sorry. 

"I missed him. Entirely." The sadness was evident in Lucien's voice. 

Ko-ran looked around the club, and seeing no one watching, he cut his thumb with his fingernail, pouring the blood into his now empty glass. "Here, Lucius, here is all that is left of Romad. He was my maker." 

With utter reverence and awe, Lucien drank the glass down. 

Images assailed him, the stoning, the pain, the sun, Ko-ran. It was all a blur, but each memory surfaced just enough for Lucien to burn it into his memory forever. *** 

"It's not much, but it'll do for now," Nick was showing Sarah around his loft. "There's some bottle food in the 'frige, if you get hungry." 

Sarah held her arms protectively across her body. "I still can't believe it." Nick had explained her new 'condition' in the caddie on the way over. It had been a delicate and hair-raising experience. 

"Well, believe it quick. I've got to go to the Raven. I'd take you, but you're a little too young for that much human contact." He looked forcefully at her. "Stay here." 

She nodded, still holding her arms. "Relax," he said. "Nothing here is going to bite you. And if it does, now you can bite it back." 

She smiled, and he left the loft. 

*** The blond biker peered around in the darkness. The night's victim had already been claimed by the authorities. Time to move on. 

He cranked his Harley  and let out a whoop as he started south. His blond hair blew back from his face revealing an outlaw. The tattoo on his arm displayed the same in bold letters "OUTLAW" under a tattoo of a skull and crossbones. 

Outlaw smiled. He was due back in the states soon, and his friends just wouldn't wait. He revved the motorcycle and drove into the night. *** (End Section 7) (Start Section 8) 

Back at the loft, Sarah showered and put the clothes Natalie had given her on. She turned the radio on. The Nightcrawler was droning about love. She'd heard this one before. Must be a taped broadcast. She listened anyway. 

The 'fridge was just as stocked as Nick said. She poured herself a glass full and put the rest away. 

On the radio, the song "Destiny's Edge" came on. She sat down on the leather couch and listened. 

She began to sing to it. She now knew what it was talking about. She felt she was on the edge, just about to fall. Where she would land, she did not know. She silently prayed she would find someone good to help her. 

*** The gentle strains of "Black Rose" drifted out of the Raven's doors. Nick made his way to the table LaCroix sat at, and only then noticed the elder. Deciding he might maybe just duck out instead, he started away. 

"Nicholas?" an unfamiliar voice called. 

Nick took a deep breath as a reflex to calm himself, even though he knew it wouldn't help. He approached the table. 

LaCroix seemed rather animated tonight, talking amicably with this ancient stranger. When Nick arrived at the table, all eyes turned to him. LaCroix spoke, and he had a slight lilt in his voice, as if all melancholy had suddenly turned to joy. He almost glowed with vigor. 

"Nicholas, how nice of you to join us. This is Ko-ran, an old friend." 

Nick shook his hand. "How old?" 

Ko-ran smiled. "Much older than you, my friend." 

Nick smiled uneasily and looked back at LaCroix. He looked for all the world to be drunk. "LaCroix, are you okay?" 

LaCroix had a certain venom in his voice, "Certainly, I am just fine. And you are here because..." 

Nick was quiet for a moment. "We've found a vampire, an accident. She might've woke up and killed somebody." 

"That is the natural order of things." LaCroix did not seem amused. 

"Well, whoever did this didn't know he screwed up." 

Ko-ran spoke up, "Another orphan. Charming. I'll take her." 

Nick look incredulously at Ko-ran. 

"Yes, young Nicholas, you heard me. Bring her here, and I'll take care of her. You're too young to be burdened with the mistakes of others." 

"But whoever did this..." Nick started. 

LaCroix finished, "...will be found out and killed by the enforcers or me. It's all out of your hands, I assure you. Your mortal laws have no pull here. Accidents happen." 

Nick looked from LaCroix to Ko-ran and back. Finally, he shook his head. "I'll get her then..." *** (End Section 8) (Start Section 9) 

All was quiet now at the loft. Sarah was with Ko-ran, hopefully learning all he could teach her. 

Nick sat at the table and went through an old scrapbook. Staring at an old picture of LaCroix from the 1890's he sighed. So many orphans, so many deaths, so much killing. Why did it all happen this way? Why idd it all have to happen? 

He smiled. _Because I loved Janette._ He shook his head again, and turned the page to her picture. He smiled and corrected himself. _I love Janette._ No matter. He still had a few good years left. He smiled and thought of Natalie. It was all worth it. *** 

Outlaw slowed to a stop to pick up the night's meal, a hitchhiker. She was ragged, and only thirteen or fourteen, probably a runaway. He was about to chomp here there, but he heard another motorcycle or two in the distance. As he was about to take off, some_thing_ or some_body_ knocked him off his bike. 

He lay in the dirt on the side of the road and cursed. 

Two other motorcycles stopped near him. He noticed who had knocked him off his bike, a dark skinned jock type. He was picking up his meal, and dusting her off. He pointed her down the road, and hypnotized her to start walking, be careful for cars and other traffic. She started down the road. 

This really pissed outlaw off. "How dare you? She was mine!" 

The other man on the motorcycle spoke up. "Not when you don't know what the hell you're doing." The power and authority was evident in his voice. 

Outlaw turned his attention to Ko-ran. "Oh yeah?" 

In an instant, Ko-ran was off his bike, picked outlaw up, and was holding him in the air. Outlaw flailed for a minute, then gave up. 

"Now," Ko-ran had vamped out, all fangs and golden eyes. "You will listen to me. You will listen because you are a threat to all our kind, and, perhaps, you don't even know it. Sarah." 

Sarah got off one of the bikes and walked toward the aloft biker. Ko-ran was not happy. "Remember her?" 

Outlaw's face turned even paler. "How?" 

Ko-ran was not amused. "How, indeed. You are very, very sloppy. Didn't your master teach you anything?" 

Outlaw sputtered, "What's a master? I was hitchhiking one day, got picked up by some guy, next thing I know, the sun's trying to kill me, I can't stand real food, and I'll be damned, blood is the only thing I can stomach. So give me a break. I don't know nothing." 

Ko-ran softened and sighed. "Well, then, come on with us. We'll teach you what you need to know." He let outlaw down. 

"Just remember, you do have people to answer to. No more screw ups." Ko-ran was no longer angry, just stern. This one would take a bit of work to get back on the straight and narrow. 

Outlaw checked himself to be sure he really was unhurt. "Yes sir." 

Ko-ran smiled, and the five vampires rode into the night. (End Section 9)  At least for this episode. ------------------------------------ Usually I'm only inspired by one song, but not this one. Inspirational Songs for this story: ------------------------------------- Brooks and Dunn "Raised in Black and White" Ricky Martin "Cup of Life" Confederate Railroad "Notorious" Dangerous Toys "Outlaw" Lori Yates "Destiny's Edge" Lori Yates "Touch the Night" 

Comments gratefully accepted raven@naturesong.com 

The Toronto Files - Installment 2 Sequel to "Friends and Enemies" 

Outlaw By Cousin Raven  Warning: There's a few colorful metaphors ahead, but not enough to warrant an Adult rating. 

Outlaw looked at these newcomers, promising to teach him what he needed to know. What could it hurt? What choice did he really have? He had a feeling they would not take "no" for an answer. Soon he was riding his bike next to them into the night. 

They had found him relatively early in the night, so they still had this evening, and his appetite was peaking. They biked back into Toronto, stopping across from a bar called the Raven. Well, Outlaw did not like this. His instincts told him they were not going on a hunt, and that disappointed him. 

Walking into the bar, he smelled the blood. It was not coming from an injured patron, but the bar itself. He felt himself drawn to it. Miklos looked up, seeing Ko-ran, Sin, Tres, Sarah and this rather mesmerized newcomer. Miklos stared at him a minute, finally deciding it would be safer to just pass over a bottle. Outlaw took it, looking somewhat confused. 

Ko-ran spoke up, "Another, and five glasses." Miklos nodded, and the items were retrieved. 

The bottle was opened at a shadowy booth, and Outlaw could not believe his eyes when the blood poured into his glass. He downed his first glass, then waited for more. "Patience, we have all night. This is a safe haven, or as safe as can be for our kind. I know the owner, he's an old friend, and we are welcome here. I'm going to make sure you are welcome as well." 

Having finished their bloodwine, Tres and Sin retired to the dance floor. They started to kiss quite passionately, and this energized Outlaw. He looked at Sarah, who had looked at him as if he were some monster who groped his way from her childhood closet of fears. She was scared to death of him, but for good reason. He had taken her life away and left her for dead. She growled at him menacingly. 

"I can take a hint." Outlaw grumbled, and looked back to the dance floor. He saw it part as if it were the red sea being parted by Moses himself. A man in black with short blond hair cut in a military style approached the booth. Outlaw tried to sink into his seat, but found he could only slide toward beneath the table. He closed his eyes and tried to make himself invisible. He doubted it was working. 

"Bon Soir, Ko-ran, Sarah...and who have we here?" Lucien's voice was hard but restrained. 

Realizing that sinking under the table probably would not help much now, he opened his eyes and straightened up. "They call me Outlaw, sir." 

Lucien was amused at this "Outlaw"'s antics. "Do not call me 'Sir', you have no idea who you are dealing with." 

Outlaw swallowed thickly and shakily poured himself another glass of bloodwine. Lucien looked at Sarah, and noted the fear in her eyes. He looked back to Outlaw. "Am I to understand you are our friend from last night's 'accident'?" 

Outlaw looked at the tablecloth and noticed it was a nice dark red color. Must be easier to get the stains to be unnoticeable. "Yes." He was careful not to say 'sir' this time. 

"Well then, I'm sure Ko-ran is teaching you the error of your ways, and in that case, you are welcome here." Lucien nodded to Ko-ran and headed for his soundbooth. 

Sarah watched him go, quietly. 

Ko-ran spoke up. "I'm just as old as he, yet you cower before him. Why?" 

Outlaw looked up, aware now that Lucien had left. "Uh, he just seems to command obedience, even from the mortals." 

"Yes," Ko-ran agreed. "He can get respect and obedience from everyone, save his own son." 

Outlaw looked shocked. "You mean someone dares defy him?" 

Ko-ran smiled. "Yes. His son has always been the self-righteous type, he follows his own heart and conscience. It's not a bad way to live. Sometimes father does not know best." 

Sarah noted Ko-ran and Outlaw were probably in for a long conversation, so she headed for the bar. "Can I get a bottle and two glasses?" Miklos nodded and handed them over. She smiled at him and wondered just where he fit in the scheme of things. 

She found the soundbooth without much effort. As she looked though the glass, she saw Lucien readying for the evening's show. He was looking through a CD rack, when he noticed her watching him. She held the bottle and glasses aloft, and he motioned her in. 

She sat in a chair across from him and poured the bloodwine. She passed him a glass, and he smiled. He sipped a bit from it, and put his finger to his lips. She nodded. He flicked the switch, and fixed her in his gaze. 

"Bon soir again, mes amis. So glad you could join us tonight. Let us talk this night of accidents. Often we wish some accidents never happened, That they stayed in their own murky depths Away from us and our comfortable little lives." 

Sarah squirmed at this, thinking the message might be for her to leave. 

"But, mes amis, some of the best things happen by accident The best medicines, the newest recipes, Love, and children, Often are not planned, but glorious accidents That enrich our lives." 

*** "Nick!" Tracy shrilled. 

Nick had been diverting into the oncoming lane, and quickly jerked the steering wheel, barely missing a brand new Jaguar. 

"Sorry," Nick muttered. Something about LaCroix's monologue tonight was different, and he had yet to find the perpetrator of the 'murder' last night. It irked him. 

*** 

"And so my friends, some accidents are part of fate Meant to happen, To better the world, Or maybe just your world, To better the lives of those around them, Ah, a caller." 

Lucien hit the switch, and a woman's scared voice broke through. 

*sniff* "I'm pregnant, and it was an accident. My husband's going to kill me, it's not his..." 

Lucien smiled and shook his head. "But, ma chere, all things happen for a reason, be certain of that. Your world will be better in the end. This child will be a good accident, children always are." He fixed his gaze again on Sarah. "Keep faith, if only in yourself." 

The woman sniffed, "Thank you, Mr. Nightcrawler." 

Lucien started to smile and decided not to correct her title. He gazed at Sarah's eyes, her smile, her beautiful face. Hades help him, she was beautiful. 

"Ah, another caller," he said as his reverie broke. 

"Mr. Nightcrawler? I'm having a bad time, my girlfriend just broke up with me, I don't know whether to try to get her back, or just move on, I don't know what to do. Can you help?" He sobbed. 

"Ah, well, first things first. No mister on Nightcrawler. Now, can you honestly say you are better or worse without her?" Lucien crooned. 

"She's beautiful, she's my whole life. I don't want to live without her." 

"Ah, there we have it. You don't even have faith in yourself to live on your own without her. Obviously, she can live without you. You must live without her, and become whole unto yourself, before you can love another." 

"Thank you." 

Sarah smiled. Apparently his words were impressing her. 

"Now, how 'bout a little music," he started a CD and smiled at her. She truly was beautiful. He sipped from his glass, and picked up a remote. With a flick of the switch, curtains closed across the glass view separating him from the rest of the club. 

"Now, ma chere, brings you to my humble abode?" Lucien purred. 

Sarah smiled. His abode was anything but humble. "I'm last night's 'accident'." 

"Yes, well, as I said, all accidents happen for a reason. Perhaps fate has a plan for you..." Lucien was interrupted by the phone line blinking. 

"Yes, caller?" Lucien started the little recording device, to perhaps play later. 

"Nightcrawler," the voice was ominous and threatening. "You sicken me, you're not worth having around, somebody ought to shoot you dead, you trash!" 

"Now, caller, please. What did I do to upset you so?" Lucien turned his gaze to the recording device, still humming away. 

"You bastard!" the caller continued, "With your talk of accepting accidents, my daughter killed herself, and it's all your fault! Your damned doom and gloom. My daughter's death was not an accident. How can I accept that? It's all your fault, and I'm gonna get you." 

Lucien raised an eyebrow and turned the recording device off, being sure he wouldn't erase it. 

The song ended, and Lucien again flicked the switch to go on the air. 

"Well, well, gentle listeners, it seems I've ruffled a few feathers in the flock. A listener blames me for the death of a loved one. Certainly, many have done so before, blame me, that is, so this is not unusual in the slightest. The police in this city might want to keep an eye out, though." 

*** In his caddie, Nick noted what LaCroix had said, and filed it in his memory. Tracy sat beside him, saying something about their current case, the 'murder' of the girl, Sarah Thompson. 

"We'll find him, don't worry," was his only consolation. *** "And Nicholas, don't worry about your latest 'problem', we've solved it for you. It won't happen again." He smiled at Sarah. *** 

Nick almost swerved off the road. "What did he say?" 

Tracy seemed annoyed, "Who, mister creepy crawly guy?" 

"Yeah, what did he say?" 

"Something about solving a problem..." Tracy sputtered. 

Nick turned the caddie almost on a dime and headed to the Raven. 

*** Ko-ran and Outlaw were discussing the finer points of killing, quietly, so quietly no mortal would have heard, had any been listening. 

"You can't leave them alive, not even a little bit." Ko-ran felt he was teaching a grade school student his ABCs. 

"Okay, so I just drink until they're totally, completely dead, no heartbeat, no nothing." Outlaw had never thought of this before. 

"Yes, so they don't come back. Otherwise you'll have another accident. It's much easier to end it in the beginning, than to try to kill some crazed newborn." 

Outlaw smiled. "Some of the ones I took I killed. I didn't try to, it just happened." 

Ko-ran poured some more bloodwine in their glasses. "Some mortals taste of the ambrosia of life, and they are difficult to let go, especially when we have strong feelings for them." 

A thought occured to Outlaw. "How old _are_ you, Ko-ran?" 

Ko-ran looked up. "What year is it?" 

Outlaw's face dropped. "You're kidding!" 

Ko-ran smiled. "Yes, actually I am. I was born in, let's see, I calculated it out once. 59 AD. I was brought across in about 90 AD." 

Outlaw became thoughtful. "And you're older than that creepy guy?" 

"No, he is older, but not by enough to matter much. We served in the same army together as mortals." 

Outlaw tried to picture this. "Let me guess, he was some lieutenant or captain, and you were a regular soldier." 

Ko-ran tried to understand where Outlaw's intuition came from. "Close, he was the General." 

"That's why. That's why he carries himself like he's the biggest shit in the turd bowl." 

Ko-ran laughed. "Don't EVER let him hear you say that, you'd be lucky if you lived to regret it." 

Outlaw thought about it for a minute and laughed. "Sorry, it was the first thought that came to mind." 

"Yes, well, while that was quite amusing, it would not be to him. Just keep your first thoughts to yourself." 

Outlaw sobered and looked around. "Where's Sarah?" 

Ko-ran motioned toward the soundbooth. "I saw her go after Lucius, she'll be all right. Our good Detective Knight did tell her the basics, so she's not going to try to get a tan or something." 

Outlaw laughed and pictured the scene. _Ah, the sun is so warm...AAAHHHHH......up in flames._ 

"So, what's the plan, amigo?" Outlaw felt like some cowboy bad guy in a bad western. 

"The plan." Ko-ran appeared to think this over. "We'll stay here around Toronto for awhile, maybe sleep here, we are welcome. Maybe get a hotel room if we're too far away. We'll just kind of map out the area in our heads. There's no real mission here, just kind of scoping the place out for now. In a while, maybe six months, maybe a year, we'll move on to some other place, maybe Quebec City or Montreal. How is your French?" 

Outlaw laughed. "French, me? or rather, moi? That's a joke. Tell me you're joking." 

Ko-ran did not laugh. "It's important to learn the languages, it helps you survive. I can't even count all the languages I know. It's a good thing, it keeps you sane." 

Outlaw considered this. "Maybe we could get a book, or you could teach me?" 

Ko-ran smiled. "We have all the time in the world." 

** 

Nick parked the caddy in front of the Raven and told Tracy to stay in the car. 

"Fat Chance!" she said as she got out. 

"Then just be careful." Nick assented. 

"Always, and stop treating me like your little sister." 

Nick sighed, and they walked into the Raven. 

*** 

Across the street, another watched. He looked around after the man and woman had gone into the accursed club. He followed. 

He whispered, "Nightcrawler, you will pay," and stepped into the club's interior. 

*** "I wonder what's keeping Sarah," Outlaw sputtered. "I think I'll go look for her..." 

Ko-ran smiled knowingly, but said nothing. *** "And so, mes amis, we continue the music, for it appears there aren't that many problems out there after all." Lucien started the music and piped it to some interior speakers. The sweet soft sounds of Lori Yates played eloquently on the speakers. 

Lucien stood and bowed at Sarah. "May I have this dance?" He offered her his hand. 

She smiled and took his hand, and was rewarded with a small twirl. They started a sensuous dance, punctuated by slight kisses on the lips and mouth. When he kissed her neck, though, she stiffened immediately. He stopped, and without a word, set her down on the chair. She looked at him, obviously confused. 

"Ma chere, you are young, and know little about our ways of love. You have no need to fear me in that respect. I understand, you were just made only last night, and it wasn't a willing making. You will take some time to get accustomed to all this. Don't worry, chere, I will still be here." 

She appeared relieved. She kissed his cheek. There was a knock at the door. She opened it. 

Outlaw stood in the doorway. "Is everything okay?" 

Sarah smiled. "Yes, everything is great. Lucien was telling me about how he feels about life, this life." 

"Really?" Outlaw sat down in the chair. "How do you feel about this life?" 

*** Nick approached Ko-ran's table. "I heard my problem was resolved. Would you know anything about this?" 

"Indeed, I do. We found him last night, and I've taken him under my wing. It won't happen again, Detective." 

"Where is he?" Nick inquired. 

Ko-ran only smiled. *** 

The man was threading his way through the crowd. He saw his destination, the Nightcrawler's soundbooth. The door was slightly ajar. He took out his gun and opened the door. 

*** Lucien saw the gun, and he saw the man. He saw the gun point at him. He saw the man's finger tighten on the trigger, then he closed his eyes and waited for the pain. 

The shot rang like the very pit of Hades had opened. There was no pain. There must be some mistake. Lucien opened his eyes. He prepared to strike the mortal who dared enter his domain, but where he had seen the man fire, there was now a hungry female vampire, one Sarah, viciously feeding from him. At his feet, Outlaw lay, covered in his own blood. 

"What the bloody hell did you do?" Lucien was incredulous. 

Outlaw laughed, but it came out a sputter. "I took a bullet for you, General." 

"Are you insane?" Lucien asked. 

"Probably. I forgot." 

"Were I mortal, I would thank you. Since I'm not, I'll consider you certifiable, and help you get the bullet out." Lucien picked up the phone. "Hello, Coroner's office? Doctor Lambert please." 

Nick burst into the soundbooth with his gun in hand and took in the scene. One dead mortal, One happy female vampire, one very bloody male vampire, and LaCroix, quite unharmed, and on the phone. 

"What the hell?" 

Sarah just laughed. *** Nick finished filing the paperwork at 2:15 that morning, a record as far as he was concerned. One insane madman, kills some college student, one Sarah Thompson, then goes after a radio DJ, one Nightcrawler. He is stopped by such DJ, and killed in self-defense. God, how he hated having to fudge a report. 

He waved to Reese as he headed for the morgue. Reese had been so please they caught the creep, he'd given both he and Tracy the rst of the night off. *** "You know, you could try to get hit in an better spot next time, lungs are difficult to extract bullets from." Natalie said as she fished in Outlaw's chest for the elusive bullet. 

"Doc, you know I didn't plan this. OW!" Outlaw seemed quite peeved. 

Lucien laughed quietly. "Better you than me." 

Nick wandered in then, and Natalie gave him a smile. 

"Ah-ha, I got it." She pulled the bullet out with her tweezers. "Prime evidence here, shall I bag it?" 

Nick nodded the affirmative, and she placed it in a bedpan to be bagged. She cleaned the wound, and watched as the flesh healed back together almost magically. "I can never get over that. Well, you're all set. Now, don't get shot again, I can't do this all the time, I do have a real job to do." 

"Thanks Doc, you're great." Outlaw shrugged into his bloodied shirt. 

Nick nodded to Outlaw and LaCroix. "Nat, how about a celebratory sundae at the Baskin Robbins?" 

Nat smiled. "I'd love to Nick. You're going to have one right?" 

Nick looked at LaCroix, who was smiling evily. 

"Uh, probably not." 

Nat laughed. "Good, two for me then, let's go, you're buying!" 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: She Has the Touch Date: Sunday, June 20, 1999 8:34 PM 

The Toronto Files - Installment 3 

She Has the Touch by Cousin Raven 

When Lucien and Outlaw left with Nick to get Outlaw's bullet out, Sarah scoped out the club. Ko-ran stopped her. 

"Are you unharmed?" 

She smiled. "Of course I'm fine." She basked in the glow, the feeling produced, from this, her first kill. "Ko-ran, will it always be this strong, this powerful?" 

"No, it will be less intense next time. Your first kill is your honeymoon, per se, you are permanently wedded to the night, and you've verified that's where you want to be." 

Her smile widened. "Let's go explore the night, then." *** 

The alley behind the Raven was quiet and secluded at this time of night. Only the rats dared to squeak. Ko-ran began the instruction. 

"You have the ability to fly, but it takes a bit of practice, especially when it comes to landing. It is an act of will, you will yourself up." He demonstrated and floated about three feet in the air. He twirled around, and set down slowly. "Now, you." 

Sarah moved nervously, then closed her eyes. Like a shot, she was floating about thirty feet above the roof of the Raven. She had a great view of the city. 

"Sarah!" Ko-ran called from below. "Be careful!" 

She smiled as she took in the view of Toronto at night. It was beautiful. All the sounds of the city assaulted her, making her spin to try to catch them all. She was in heaven. 

A sudden squeal caught her attention, and she turned to see a car collide with a telephone pole. From the passenger side, a small boy spilled out, covered in blood. The sight shocked her, and stirred the monster within. Before she realized it, she was at the boys side. Her hand touched the bloodied shirt. She could see a jagged piece of glass sticking out. Her memories turned to her own family, her little brother. This could be him. She pulled the piece of glass out, and held him close. Her eyes formed blood tears that dripped onto the boy. She must've cried a torrent. When the police officer tried to pry her off, she almost bit him. Finally, she let the boy go. The paramedic put him on the street and examined him. 

Sarah thought his words would burn into her brain. "This one's okay, hardly a scratch." 

She stared at the boy's bloody torn shirt. Beneath it, the skin was whole and unmarked. A small sprinkling of glass was carefully cleaned off, and there wasn't even a bruise where the gaping wound had been. "Oh, God." she said, and felt herself lose consciousness. 

Ko-ran arrived just in time to catch her fall. He didn't understand what had happened here, but he knew he couldn't let them treat her as they would a mortal. He carried her across the street and touched her face. There was no response. "Sarah," he whispered. Slowly she opened her eyes. "Are you okay? You scared me for a minute there." 

She gasped and looked around. "Where is he?" 

Ko-ran thought she meant the driver of the car, a man in his late 30's. "They're putting him in the ambulance there..." 

"No, the boy." 

Ko-ran looked around and saw the paramedic checking the boy. "Stay here, I'll check on him." 

Ko-ran approached the paramedic. "Is he going to be okay?" 

The paramedic, a man in his late 30's, did not answer. 

Ko-ran called forth his hypnotizing ability.  "Is he going to be okay?"

The paramedic got a far away look in his eyes, but kept working on the boy. "It looks mighty good, mister." 

The boy took a huge breath and opened his eyes. He searched from face to face and then found Sarah. "Angel." was all he said. The paramedics wrapped him up and put him in the ambulance. All the time, he simply looked at Sarah in absolute awe. 

"I want to go with him." Sarah was obstinate. 

"No, that's not a good idea. You can see him tomorrow night. We'll call the hospital in a little bit to find out how he is. It'll be dawn soon." Ko-ran tried to be gentle. 

Sarah smiled a sad smile and her eyes filled with blood tears. She looked at Ko-ran. "He was dying. There was a big piece of glass. I healed him. I don't know how." 

Ko-ran held her in his arms. "It's okay, it's okay, these things happen to some of us." 

*** (Flashback) Ko-ran stared at the man, an old grizzled warrior. "You're serious, Jesus was a vampire? That a vampire healed mortals of their wounds?" 

The man smiled and nodded. "Some of us have that talent, but it doesn't last long. Maybe a year, maybe ten. Not long in the life of a vampire. Of course, most don't survive, once the mortals find out." 

"Olen, how could you make me believe that, it's not true, that can't be true." 

Olen smiled. "You weren't there. I saw him: as a magician he made many fish from two, and as a vampire he healed the sick. I saw him." *** 

Ko-ran held Sarah tightly. "Everything will turn out fine, you'll see." 

*** Lucien and Outlaw arrived at the Raven just before sunrise. The club was deserted except for a few vampires in the basement, and two in a booth at the end of the bar. Ko-ran still held the now sleeping Sarah. 

Outlaw looked at them. "What happened? She looks exhausted." 

Ko-ran put his finger to his lips and slowly laid her on the seat. She did not move. 

Lucien looked concerned. "What has happened?" 

Ko-ran looked from Lucien to Outlaw and back again. "She is a healer. She is the one." 

*** 

Lucien remembered. Olen was telling them about the prophesy. "'There will come another healer, who will be our leader, and we will follow to a divine life, beautiful and free flowing. Heaven will be an understatement. We will live in peace with the mortals from then on, and killing will be unnecessary.' Jesus himself said this to us one night." 

Lucien spoke menacingly, "I don't take to any prophesy, and I don't believe that anyone will ever come who will help us live in 'peace' with mortals. We are vampires, deal with it," then he had left. 

Ko-ran shook his head. "He's a rowdy one. Well, thank you for your time..." his voice was cut off by Olen grabbing Ko-ran's arm. 

"I'm telling you, there will be another, we will find perfect freedom!" 

Ko-ran tore away from Olen. "Why tell me?" 

Olen seemed to go mad. "It will be your responsibility...your problem...your soul." 

A haunted look had filled Ko-ran's eyes. He left that night; it was a sad parting. *** 

"My responsibility," Ko-ran echoed in the present. He shook his head, "And I thought I was paying my debt already." He looked at Sarah. "Now this." 

Lucien's voice was the voice of reason. "Certainly this could be a coincidence, after all those were the words of a madman, a vampire stretched beyond his limits of age." 

"But Lucius, there she is. She said she healed someone, a little boy." 

"Perhaps it was afterglow." Lucien ventured. 

Ko-ran gave him a stern look. 

"I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that you can't rule out all possibilities. Before you start planning the Armageddon, I suggest you check them all out. There have been a thousand 'prophesies' from a thousand people. Why do you believe this one?" 

"I just do." 

Outlaw looked at the two of them. "Yeah, well now we need some sleep, I'm bushed." He sank onto the other side of the booth and yawned, more for show than anything. 

Lucien looked Ko-ran squarely in the eye. "We will discover the truth." 

Ko-ran nodded. *** 

It was dark when Sarah woke; the club would open soon. She looked around and saw Outlaw stretched out across from her, just watching her. They were up on a second floor, probably Lucien's private rooms. 

"What's up?" she asked. 

"The old guys asked me to watch you, make sure you're okay. You are okay, aren't you?" 

She nodded. 

"Good," he passed her a bottle, and she drank. "Heard you had quite an adventure last night, want to tell me about it?" 

She shook her head no. 

Outlaw sniffed. "Well, I am here if you need to talk, and I'm not some judgmental old guy, you know that." 

"Yeah, I know," she said and looked down at the floor. 

*** (Flashback) Scene: Night. A dock with a small boat moored to it. In the background we see a house lit by lights. 

Mother calling, "Sarah!" But she hid in the spot under the dock. It was safe, and dry, the tide was out and that left just enough dry space for one small girl. She liked to play with her parents, they were so easy to fool. "Sarah!" she could hear her mother walk up the dock, her small feet making a small noise on the creaky dock. When mother got to the end of the dock, she tried to step into the boat. "So help me, if you're there you'd better come o..." She sound was cut by a strangled cry, and a splash. 

Sarah ran to her mother, but it was too late. Dead, sightless eyes started upward to heaven, and Sarah cried and cried. (End Flashback) *** 

Outlaw saw Sarah crying quietly, and wondered. He didn't ask, because he had already offered to listen, so he figured maybe he could tell her how he felt about things, maybe get her to open up. 

"You know, when this first happened to me, I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't stand the sun, couldn't eat anything. Shit I almost killed some poor guy, I wouldn't have known much what to do with him if I had. Finally, that night, I came across a man. He had a cut hand, cut in some bar fight I think. Anyway, he was still kinda drunk, and his cut was bleeding freely, and, well, let's just say he didn't live to see his next hangover." 

Sarah smiled slightly, cheered by a friendly voice. She felt so alienated, just as when he mother had died. She felt everyone had blamed her. Now, she'd healed someone, a killer who healed. There had to be some kind of irony there. 

"So man, once I figured I was a vampire, well, then everything else just fit into place. I kinda had to figure out all the other things on my own. Found out them damn crucifixes really do hurt. God, carried a scar on my hand for almost a week, and it wasn't even a cool scar either." 

Sarah giggled at this, trying to picture a 'cool' scar. 

"And then I took this piece of wood and stuck it in my hand, you know, just to see what would happen. Big mistake. Hand had no feeling even after I pulled the damn thing out. Took two whole sleeps to get back to normal. Ever try to make a kill with only one hand? Oh, no you haven't. Sorry." Outlaw got thoughtful. 

"I'm really sorry 'bout what I did. I didn't know I'd be condemning you like this, I didn't mean it." 

"Nope, I was just another victim." Sarah ventured. 

"Well, yeah, don't take it personally. The old man's been teaching me what I did wrong. It's not going to happen again. Actually, now that I know places like this exist, it probably won't happen at all. I don't like to kill, I just got used to it. I lived almost a year on my own like this. I guess I got kinda set in my ways." He gazed forlornly at Sarah. 

"Sometimes, mistakes happen for a reason," she sighed echoing LaCroix. "I have a lot of guilt on my conscience, even before this happened. You should have killed me." 

Outlaw was taken aback by this, and did not know how to respond, or even if he should respond. He sputtered, "Who are you to dictate life and death? You aren't God, or an angel, or anything of the sort, so just come down off your high horse and join the rest of us, cuz lady, we all got problems!" He stalked off into the other room. 

Sarah sat and thought about what he'd said. He slunk back in a few minutes later. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said." 

"Yes, you did. You're right of course." 

In a whoosh of air, Sarah disappeared. Outlaw looked around. "Sarah?" The room was empty. "Oh, I am sooo screwed." (End Part 1) (Start Part 2) *** 

In the main floor of the Raven, Ko-ran and Lucien were discussing the supposed prophecy. 

Ko-ran snorted. "Just what makes you think this prophecy won't come to pass? What makes you so damn mighty and powerful that you think you're somehow exempt from it?" 

Lucien was calm, but adamant. "By believing in a prophecy, it becomes self-fulfilling. Do not assume because some crazy lunatic told you this was going to happen, that it will. Insanity is a mental disease, not a psychic condition." 

Outlaw practically threw himself on their table. "She's gone. I'm sorry, I tried to stop her, but she was just too quick." 

Lucien and Ko-ran quietly made their way to the back alley, with Outlaw trailing behind. Lucien looked around and again noted the rats. _Damn, still haven't talked to Screed about that._ With a quick look, both Lucien and Ko-ran had taken flight. Outlaw looked up forlornly. "But I don't know how to fly yet! Come on you guys!" 

He heard Ko-ran speak, from somewhere above. "Stay here in case she comes back." 

Outlaw swore. "Why do they always get to have all the fun?" 

A male voice spoke from the doorway, "Probably because they don't usually get killed when they do it." 

Outlaw started and looked into the shadows. Inner alarms told him it was not a mortal, and it was quite older than he himself. A figure with long dark hair greeted him. "Hey, Javier Vachon." He reached his hand out the way he knew the vampires of this day and age expected. 

Outlaw nodded, "I'm Outlaw." He shook his hand. 

Javier leaned against the brick wall of the Raven. "I heard you a second ago. You want to know how to fly?" 

Outlaw felt embarrassed. It was one thing to tell the almighty powerful vampires you were lacking, but to tell one not quite so ancient felt rather dangerous. After all, if the Ancients wanted him dead, he'd be dead already. And the Ancients weren't here to protect him. 

"Yeah," he ventured. "I've been rather uninformed." 

"I'll believe that." Javier seemed rather cordial. "Let's go to the roof, less inquiring mortals." 

Javier shot up to the roof, and Outlaw looked up forlornly, again. "Aw, you're just teasing me!" 

Javier laughed from the roof. "Just imagine yourself floating, it's not hard." 

"Yeah, easy for you to say, you're older than me. You've had practice." 

Outlaw closed his eyes and imagined he was floating. He felt the ground leave his toes, and opened his eyes. The ground was getting bigger. He fell forward and felt his nose crunch. "Agh!" 

A split second later, Javier was there, picking him up. "What the hell were you thinking?" 

Outlaw grumbled. "Agh, I told you I'm uninformed. I don't know anything about any of this, just that I should be able to do it." Blood poured out his nose. He jiggled it a little and heard a few crunches. "Agh!" 

Javier giggled. "Here, let me help." He grabbed Outlaw's nose and straitened it with a horrible crunch. "There, now it'll be alright in a few. Let's get something to drink." 

Outlaw held his wounded nose and nodded with some difficulty. 

In the bar, Miklos passed Outlaw a small pile of napkins, along with a bottle of bloodwine and two glasses. He headed for the other side of the bar. 

Outlaw held the napkins to his nose and Javier started to laugh. "Nit's not nunny." Outlaw whined, then started laughing along. "Nes it nis." 

"Hey guys, you just get in a fight or something?" a perky voice asked. 

Javier noted with pleasure that Tracy had joined them. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" 

Tracy was still interested in Outlaw's wounds. "You know if you put your head back, it might help." She turned to Vachon, "I'm on my way, just wanted to see if there was anything up in this corner of the world." 

Javier smiled. "Nope, nothing unusual here." 

Tracy shook her head. "There's never anything unusual, until I get a call, then it's 'Oh sorry, Tracy, we forgot to tell you.' Shish, it's worse than having an over-protective parent." He gaze turned to Outlaw, who took the napkins off his nose and noted the blood had stopped. 

"Good evening, Miss Perky." He smiled. 

"How dare you! Maybe I ought to hit you next!" She balled up her fist. Vachon took her arm and guided her toward the door. "Maybe not," she said. 

Outlaw stood at the bar and watched Javier guide Tracy out the front door. "Strange woman," he remarked. *** 

Sarah leaned on the white picket fence surrounding her house and stared through the glass windowpane and tried to find the breath to sigh. On the other side, he father slept in an easy chair, with a newspaper in his hands. On the table beside him a bunch of fliers proclaimed "MISSING!" and they were plastered with her high school picture. She felt so bad about all this. She stared through the window and tried to burn the image into her mind. The image was turned topsy-turvy as she felt her shoulder roughly shoved away. She stared at the perpetrator. 

LaCroix stood there with a mean expression on his face. "How dare you leave!" 

Sarah shot into the air, closely followed by LaCroix. "How dare you! How dare you tell me what to do, I am my own person! My own vampire!" She growled. 

LaCroix growled back, but was interrupted by Ko-ran. He flew up and circled the growling pair, debating his course of action. 

He stopped and gazed at Sarah intently. She was starting to tire from the constant effort required to simply float, and not go anywhere. Ko-ran and Lucien were not affected. 

"You have a special gift, Sarah, you can heal. Why did you run away?" Ko-ran was soothing. 

"I may have a gift, but I've killed, I'll kill again. Is it worth it? Is anything truly worth killing?" 

Lucien spoke up, "You are a vampire. It is in your nature to kill. There is no guilt, no regret. If only you children would realize this..." 

"No. I would rather die. You cannot tell me how I will live my life. I am a grown woman - vampire - whatever." Sarah started to cry. 

Ko-ran reached for her, saying softly, "Sarah." 

She jerked away from him and growled. 

Ko-ran was miffed, "Sarah, honey, let us get you started in a new life, you can't stay here. Let us set you up in Montreal or somewhere in the States. You can have your own life, I promise. I would never interfere in your going off on your own." 

"No. I don't deserve to live." Sarah stated. She sensed something wrong then, her energy almost gone, she could stay here any longer. With a forced intake of breath, she started to fall. She could see on the pretty white picket fence in her very own front yard. She imagined the wood slats toring through her heart, stilling it completely. She reached toward the ground, yearning for death. 

Suddenly, he fall was interrupted quite abruptly. "No." Lucien's angry voice called. "You owe me a dance. I promised to wait until you were ready, and now you're trying to back out of the deal. Be certain, I get what I've been promised." He looked at Ko-ran, who was visibly shaken. "Let's go back..." Ko-ran nodded. 

(End Part 2) (Start Part 3) 

Back at the Raven, Outlaw was discussing the finer points of vampiric life with Vachon. It appeared they were quite engaged, Ko-ran and Lucien sat at a nearby table with their 'catch' who was quite asleep. 

Ko-ran reached across the bar and dialed the hospital. After a few tries, he discovered the condition of the young boy from the car accident. He thanked Miklos for the use of the phone and approached Outlaw's table. 

Outlaw looked fearfully in the Ancient's direction. "Am I screwed?" 

Ko-ran was now in a better mood, all his wayward foster children being safe for the moment. He laughed. "Outlaw, she's better than you at most things, and you're her master. No, there was no way you could know what she was going to do." 

Outlaw breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, I thought I was toast. Almost got the bike started and caught a wave to the States." 

Ko-ran smiled. "Then you would have been toast. It's almost sunup now." 

Outlaw looked around and nodded, the club was emptying of mortals slowly. "Hey, there's Miss Perky!" 

Tracy blew in and said 'Hi' to everyone. Sarah woke up slowly and glanced at the newcomer. Her newborn vampire instincts started to burn. 

Javier picked up the bottle from his table and passed it to her. She took it gratefully. 

Javier decided to distract Tracy from the bottle, and what it contained. "What's up, Trac? Just getting off work? Nothing weird and supernatural I hope." 

Tracy looked at Sarah for a minute, then back to Vachon. "No, I just have a headache, and Reese let me go home. I'm just stopping in to make sure your friend here was okay, and to tell him I didn't mean what I said earlier." 

Outlaw waved from behind the booth. 

Ko-ran smiled and looked at Sarah. "You know, that boy's perfectly fine. They kept him for the night, but released him this morning." 

Sarah smiled and got up. She touched Tracy's head. 

"Hey!" Tracy said. Then she realized her pain was gone, the headache was gone. "How'd you do that?" 

Sarah smiled at Tracy, then at Lucien. "I have the touch." (End Part 3) 

-------- Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com Be careful, I bite. Reality? Do they have fan fiction for that? Enforcements, Unholy Trinity, Dark Perk, and Cousin! 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: tfile Date: Thursday, June 24, 1999 11:24 PM 

The Toronto Files - Increment 4 All other increments archived at http://www.naturesong.com/raven/tfiles.htm 

Ghost from the Past By Cousin Raven 

Sin and Tres skidded into the club with barely a minute to spare. They looked windblown, as if they'd realized quite suddenly how late it was. Sin shook out her hair in the doorway, and a few leaves scuttled down. Tres gave her a small tap on the behind and approached the table and the bottles on it. He took two, one for each of them, and smiled at all around. 

Tracy grabbed Sarah's hand and said, "Thank you so much, I don't know what you did, but I sure feel better!" She gave a quick kiss on the cheek to Vachon, then made her way out, careful to not let any of the sun's rays in. She shook her head as she walked to her parked car, talking to herself she noted, "Tracy, you sure do hang around with some strange vampires." The idea of normal vampires suddenly struck her. What would a 'normal' vampire do? Take night classes and work the night shift? It's a good thing there's no vampires at work. She sunk into her seat and turned on the radio. Of course, the Nightcrawler wasn't on the air now, unfortunately, but she could still catch some good music. 

The music came on the radio, and Tracy smiled a sad smile. It was "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan. The words always made her think of Vachon. She sighed and sang along with the music as she pulled away from the Raven. 

"You come out at night That's when the energy comes And the dark side's light And the vampires roam" 

*** 

Back at the Raven, Tres took Sin's hand and said in a loud voice, "I have an announcement. Sin and I are going to be staying here in Toronto. We've found a nice little apartment on the south side. I've applied for and been accepted as a security guard in the new mall, and Sin here is going to try to paint again. It seems she used to be pretty good at it." 

Ko-ran's smile went from ear to ear. "I knew you two would get along just fine, and it's nice to see you've finally found somewhere to belong." 

A kind of impromptu party broke out, with everyone shaking Sin and Tres' hands and congratulating them. 

"Out of a mild curiosity, where have you two been the past few days?" Lucien asked. 

Tres smiled at Sin. "Well, we tracked down Nick and asked how we could somehow stay here. He said he wasn't sure, but Aristotle could probably help us out, so he hooked us up. It took awhile, and some is still processing. Apparently he has some identities set up, just waiting for someone to drop by." 

"Not just someone," Ko-ran said. "I have identities made for my fosterlings as soon as I realize they're not dangerous." He turned his gaze to Outlaw and Sarah. "I've had him start working on yours just last night. It'll take a while, maybe as long as a year, but when you're ready, it will be too." 

Outlaw smiled. Sarah seemed more interested, at the moment, in gazing at LaCroix. She appeared to be imagining something; her eyes glazed over. 

Lucien questioned Tres. "My Nicholas told you this?" 

Tres nodded the affirmative, and toasted with Sin. They kissed passionately. 

Lucien's thoughts turned inward as he thought of all the possibilities. Was Nicholas planning a move, or was he just keeping current? His thoughts were interrupted by something he saw out of the corner of his eye. Just a flash, but when he looked again, it was gone. 

"Hmp. Long day," he muttered. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going upstairs to bed. It's not that I don't enjoy the company, I just don't have too many beds. Scatter where you will," he said and gave an encompassing gesture to the club. 

He walked up the stairs and thought he saw, right in front of him on the stair, a figure. He reached into his pocket and flicked a Zippo  lighter engraved with "A mon pere, toujours, Janette." There was nothing in front of him. He shook his head as if to clear it, and made his way to his room. 

He relaxed on the bed and laid his head on the pillow. When he closed his eyes, he saw a face, an image. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was a sound on the stairway. He looked in that direction. Sarah stared from the doorway. "Is your invitation still open?" 

"But of course, ma chere." He reached for her hand, she gave it. 

"You're not too tired?" She ventured. 

Lucien's smile could have lit up the room. "Ma chere, I am never too tired for you." 

*** 

Lucien woke slowly from dreams of faceless corpses and disembodied heads. They disturbed him simply because he usually didn't dream at all. Sarah lay in his arms, small spots of blood on her shirt. It _was_ quite dark last night, Lucien thought to himself and smiled. She certainly hadn't complained. He closed his eyes and stretched. The face was there again, just beyond his reach. He tried to bring it into focus, but it just dissipated. "Damn," he said. 

"Disappointed?" Sarah said as she woke. 

He smiled, temporarily forgetting the face. "Not at all. I find you quite refreshing." 

She stretched like a cat, seeming to stretch each finger and toe all at once. "That was something I will never, ever forget." 

He smiled and kissed her lightly. "Ma chere, even before last night, _you_ were unforgettable." 

She blushed, just a little. 

"Now, lovely Sarah, star of my night, will you join me in the shower?" 

She giggled and tentatively licked his lips. "Of course, General." 

Lucien smiled, but it was a wistful smile, "That was a long time ago." 

She giggled. "With you 'long time ago' takes on a whole new meaning..." 

He started the water running, she disrobed and examined her throat in the mirror for the wounds or scars she knew should be there. They were not, of course. 

Lucien was squatted near the faucet, nude, testing the water's warmth. She snuck up behind him (or at least Lucien let her believe she was sneaking up on him) and licked the edge of his ear. He spun around and grabbed her in an embrace, lifting her up and into the shower with him. 

The water was hot and delicious. Water ran pink and lovers were quite clean at the end of the shower. 

--------- 

"Good evening gentle listeners, Tonight we speak of love, The kind of love that is spontaneous and strong, Like a wave of fire, pushing you along, With all the feelings that accompany it. 

How do we _know_ we are in love? Isn't love just a feeling, A movement of impulses along neurons that release the same chemical that chocolate does?" 

Lucien smiled. You could hear it in his voice. 

"I used to think so." 

He stared out the window and watched Sin and Tres, kissing passionately in their dance floor embrace. And then to Sarah, who was watching him covertly while pretending to listen to Ko-ran. Lucien giggled. 

"Mes amis, love is ultimate happiness, joy, that you find only with another." 

He switched the tape on, and the song "Forever" by Kiss started to play... 

"I gotta tell you what I'm feelin' inside I could lie to myself but it's true There's no denying when I look in your eyes Girl I'm out of my head over you I lived so long believin' all love is blind But everything about you is tellin' me this time It's Forever...." 

In the doorway, Lucien saw a figure. He turned to see it better, and it dimmed, and almost went out. The pleasantries forgotten, he yelled, "No, don't you fade on me again!" The dimming figure hesitated for a minute, seemingly undecided, then faded away. "Damn it," Lucien muttered. 

(End Part 1) (Start Part 2) 

"What a day for Nick to forget something..." Tracy sighed. He hadn't even told her what he'd forgotten, just that he had to go back to the loft for a minute. She turned the radio on, leaned back in the caddie and listened. The Nightcrawler came on. 

"Mes amis, love is ultimate happiness, joy, that you find only with another." 

She sighed. She felt that way about Vachon. Of course, she might never know how he felt about her. 

Upstairs in the loft, Nick guzzled from his bottle. He'd simply forgotten to eat this morning; he'd been running so late. He almost flew to work, but they had to patrol a bit tonight, and it didn't seem like a good idea. Tracy was already getting suspicious of him. He checked his face in the mirror to make sure he didn't get any on him, and headed for the elevator. 

"81-Kilo, 81-Kilo, we've got a 10-45 at Lake and Palmer. Proceed with caution suspect was seen near the scene presumed armed and dangerous. Coroner is rolling." 

She answered the call "81-Kilo, copy..." then looked around the garage. "NICK!" 

He was there in an instant, and she almost jumped out of the car. "Ahh! Why is everybody always sneaking up on me!" 

Nick smothered a laugh. "Did I hear the radio?" 

"Yeah, Lake and Palmer. Let's go." 

They drove out of the garage, and started to the crime scene. 

Tracy noticed a small blood spot on Nick's dark blue collar as they pulled out. It was too far away to be a cut from shaving, but she asked anyway. "Hey, d'you cut yourself shaving?" 

Nick almost swerved into the other lane. "What?" 

She pointed to his collar, and he strained to see. "There." 

He pulled his shirt forward and noticed the spot. "Yeah, it was a hell of a fight. You should see the razor." 

She giggled, but the spot still bothered her. --------------- 

"I'm telling you, I did not imagine this. Some specter is stalking me." Lucien mumbled to Ko-ran. 

"I have seen things I cannot explain, this is true. I believe you are telling the truth." 

Lucien glared at Ko-ran. "When have I ever lied to you?" 

"You have not." 

"Thank you." Lucien stared out on the dance floor, and raised his glass to his lips. It trembled; his hand was shaking. With a force of will, he stopped it, and drank calmly. This whole thing was getting to him. He should be so happy now, and all he could think about, in between images of Sarah, was this figure. Who could it be? 

--------- 

81-Kilo, the '62 blue-green Cadillac, pulled up to the crime scene, an empty lot at the corner of Lake and Palmer. The uniforms had already sealed the area, and were questioning the onlookers for a possible witness or two. Police photographers were taking pictures of the body and surrounding area for evidence. Reese was talking to a camera crew. The reporter was waving her microphone in his direction, and asking if they had anything on the suspect yet. 

"Shish," Nick muttered. "The guy's not even cold yet, but they're already on us like vultures." 

Tracy heard his muttering and added her own, "They always are." 

They approached Natalie who was examining the body, and noting anything unusual. "We got a John Doe, probably asphyxiated, we've got some rope burns on the neck. His neck's broken, I have to say, Nick, this looks like a suicide." 

"But we're in an empty lot." Nick mentioned. 

"Exactly. So, what happened?" Nat queried. 

Tracy broke in, "And where's the rope?" She looked at Nick. 

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Time of death?" 

Nat rolled her eyes; "I'd say twelve hours, give or take an hour. If there's any more to know in the autopsy I'll let you know." She rolled the body into the body bag. 

"Let's see if the patrolmen have anything..." Nick suggested. 

Nat watched him go. --------------- 

"Ro-ro! I don't want you to go!" 

The voice shook Lucien to his roots. It was _his_ voice. His voice as a child, echoed through almost two thousand years, to his ears. 

He looked around the Raven. There were no children here. He looked behind the bar, no one but Miklos and the other bartender. Ko-ran looked at him inquisitively. "Problem?" He asked. 

Lucien looked at Ko-ran, then around the bar again. 

"Ro-ro!" He'd heard it again. 

Lucien spun around. "Did you hear that?" he queried. 

Ko-ran looked around, and listened intently. "I'm sorry Lucius, I hear nothing but the music and the mortals." 

"RO-RO!" 

"Certainly you heard that." 

Ko-ran shook his head "no". "Lucius, perhaps you should go upstairs, you don't look well. I'll get you a bottle and we'll put you to bed." 

Lucien looked at Ko-ran with murder in his eyes. "How dare you! I am not Olen, I am not insane." 

Ko-ran smiled. "No one said you were. Lucius, it's best. There's no fault here, no blame. Sometimes we just need rest." 

Lucien growled, "You think I'm going mad. If I am sleep is not going to cure it." 

Ko-ran was about to help Lucien upstairs when Sarah approached. She had a bottle and two glasses in her hand. "Come Lucien, let's go upstairs." 

Lucien glared at Ko-ran, but he seemed just as surprised that a newborn, even this one, would dare get between two ancients who were arguing. 

Lucien followed her up, furtively looking for his mysterious visitor. --------- 

In the coroner's building, Nat was finishing the autopsy just as Nick wandered in with Tracy. 

Nat picked up the chart and began reading. "'John Doe, White Male, Early 20's, asphyxiated, broken neck: probable hanging. Lab results: Within normal standards. Blood Alcohol content: 0.00.' I'd say it was a suicide and someone moved the body. Either that or someone hanged him then moved his body. Most probable theory: he committed suicide and someone, probably a family member, moved the body so they wouldn't ruin their 'good name'. I'm having missing persons check on the probable name, but they won't get back to me until morning. Until then, all I can give you is a few pieces of the rope; they got caught in his hair. The lab boys analyzed it and came up with this." She handed him a paper. 

Nick read aloud, "'Rope was 100 percent synthetic fiber, a plastic material. Found on the rope were small now-hardened pieces of concrete. Plaster dust was found to be covering 20 percent of the sample.' So, we're thinking this rope came from a construction site." 

Tracy volunteered, "I can stay late tonight, call downtown and get a list of all the sites will building permits. It may be a long shot, but it's our only shot unless or until missing persons comes up with something." 

Nick nodded. "I can make some calls, maybe someone in my informant circle has a clue." 

"Okay then," Nat said. "That wraps it up here." She zipped the body bag back up and put the body in the deep freeze. 

"Thanks Nat," Tracy said as she started for the door. 

Nick smiled at Nat and turned to the door. 

"Hey, Nick." 

Nick turned back to Nat. 

"If you're not busy later on, I mean there's nothing we can really do until morning, I was wondering if maybe you might want to come over and watch a movie?" Nat stuttered. 

Tracy ducked out of the room and closed the door behind her. 

Nick smiled. "Sure. I'd like that." Then he followed Tracy back to the car. 

Nat stared at the door, hoping he'd come back, but he didn't. God, how she wanted to be with him. Just him, no corpses, no Tracy, no Reese, no work. She sighed. Maybe one day. ---- 

Tracy leaned on the caddie and stared up at the full moon in the sky. The stars were beautiful tonight. She liked the night, she always had, even before she learned what alluring creatures lived in it. A vision of Vachon swam in her mind, but she brushed it away for now. It was a horrible tease, to imagine something that might never happen. At least Nick and Nat could get together, no problem...or could they? Her mind wandered back to the spot of blood on Nick's shirt. If he'd cut himself shaving, where was the cut? 

She started to add all of this up. Nick never comes out during the day, has to do everything by phone. She'd never seen him eat at all. He didn't drink coffee, whenever she'd bought a cappuccino; he'd gotten one, but didn't drink it all. Now that she thought about it, he probably never drank any of it, just got it for show. The vision of Vachon swam in her mind again. Was it possible? Was her partner a vampire? 

"Boo!" 

Tracy jumped higher than the caddie. "Will you stop doing that! I'm not your little sister that you can screw around with. I'm a grown adult and I don't appreciate you people scaring the shit out of me!" 

Nick stopped at this barrage of anger. She wasn't usually this forceful; she must've been thinking something really involving. "Sorry," he muttered, "I promise as of right now I'll never do it again." He got in the caddie and it roared to life. 

--------- 

(End Part 2) (Start Part 3) Upstairs at the Raven was cozy. Lucien had always enjoyed it so. The bed was warm and fluffy with a black down comforter, big oversized pillows, and dim lighting. 

He lay on that bed now, propped up on one elbow, drinking his meal with Sarah. She gazed at him with undisguised wonder. 

"Do you think I'm crazy?" he asked her. 

She shook her head no, "No way. You are way too strong for crazy. I believe you. Who am I to not believe you, I who can heal mortals..." 

He smiled and kissed her. The blood on their lips mingled and their passion burned. He nuzzled her neck and this time, she arched her neck to him, daring him, wanting him, to bite her. He obliged and she parted the way to his neck and broke the skin with her still new vampire teeth. Blood flowed, and love burned. 

He did sleep later, but it was restless, he kept seeing Romad in his dreams. Over and over again. When they'd played together as children, when he'd played swordsman using a stick, and Romad's discarded toy wooden shield. The dreams finally culminated with the last time he saw Romad, the day he left for Israel. 

"Ro-ro!" 

He woke up. It had been out loud, he was sure of it. In the doorway, he could see the outline of a figure in the dark. He was tired of all of this. 

"Show yourself." He stated. Sarah moved a bit in her sleep, then curled over on her side away from him. 

In the doorway, the silhouette became solid. It became a man. It became Romad. Lucien thought now he must really be going mad, but Romad just smiled. "Lucius," his voice was ethereal and soft. "I've been looking for you all these years. So many different lives, different bodies, different times. I finally found you just a week ago. I heard one of your radio shows, and knew it was you. I was on my way to see you when my brother, in this life, decided he deserved my wife more than I did, and killed me. I was so close Lucius; I just had to see you again. I'm sorry I caused you pain. I did not intend it." 

Lucien still believed this to be a dream. "So you have reincarnated in search of me?" 

Romad smiled. "Of course, you didn't think you'd ever get rid of me entirely, did you? This life will be one of many for some of us. For you, it appears you're taking them all at once, but that's okay. We know you'll go through just as much, if not more, learning in this life as you would in a dozen lives. This is not the end Lucius, life, real life, is forever." He faded slowly then. 

"Wait!" Lucien shouted, but the specter continued to fade. 

It was gone by the time Sarah stirred beside him. "Is everything okay?" 

Lucien smiled and held her close. "Perfect." 

---------- Reese was giving the evening briefing to Tracy and Nick. 

"The man was positively identified at 9:30 this morning, he was John Morgan, an Insurance salesman from the East Side. His brother works at a construction company, Uriel Construction. With the rope evidence, and the fact that somebody had to move him, he was arrested and booked at 6:42 this evening. You all do not have a case left that you can work on, there's nothing else going on, book off for the night, we'll call you if we need you...and Nick, don't forget about your plans with Doctor Lambert." 

Nick glared at Tracy. She shrugged her shoulders, "I wouldn't say anything, Nick, I can keep a secret." She looked him in the eye. "I always do." 

Reese smiled. "The good doctor told me to make sure you made it to her place tonight, she's got rental movies, and they're due back tomorrow morning." 

Nick smiled. "Well then, I guess I'd better be going." He headed for the door. 

Tracy watched him go and muttered, "Why don't people trust me with their secrets? It's not like I'm going to blab them to the world..." she sighed. Maybe if Vachon were free he'd like to go to a movie. She smiled and grabbed her keys as she walked for the door. She sang as she walked... 

"You come out at night That's when the energy comes And the dark side's light And the vampires roam" 

------------------------------------------------ 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: HOnest Mistake Date: Thursday, July 01, 1999 7:54 AM 

Toronto Files - Increment 5 All other increments archived at http://www.naturesong.com/raven/tfiles.htm ------------------------------------ Honest Mistake By Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) --------------------------------------------------------- 

Outlaw was on the roof of the Raven, trying to fly. He was trying very hard. He stood there, in the dark, just staring at his feet, willing himself up. His nose was bloody from multiple falls, but he could feel the bruises on his arms and hands healing already. It was tiring work. Finally, he sat down and wiped the blood off his face. He absently licked it off his hand as he listened for any movement, any heartbeat. That's when he heard it, it was close, probably just in the alley beside the Raven. He got up slowly and walked over to the side. He could hear them clearly now. 

"Five thousand, it's all here. Now you've got to do the job. She's going to be at Azure this evening, and I don't ever want to see that b*tch again," a man said in a gruff voice. Outlaw did not hear a response, so he strained his ears, hoping to catch something of the other side of the conversation. 

"You got it. One dead chick. I'll want the rest of that money after I finish the job." It was a low voice, one that Outlaw had never heard before. 

He suddenly realized that with all this concentration of listening, he'd floated up about six inches, unwittingly. Steadying himself, he forced air into his lungs to calm himself. It didn't help. They were talking again. 

The first man seemed nervous now that the deal was done, his heartbeat had increased, and his breathing was fast. He said, "You do your part, and I'll do mine." 

The other man just nodded. His heartbeat was slow and steady, as if he'd done this a thousand times before. The first man left, and Outlaw considered this man, this killer. He smiled a long, wicked smile. His eyes became golden, and his fangs erupted. 

The man started out of the alley. Outlaw turned to watch him go, and reali zed there was no longer roof underneath him. He was floating above the alleyway. He smiled again. This was fun. Slowly, he followed the killer; he didn't want to make a kill so near his resting place, the Raven. 

Finally, the man made a turn onto Simpson Street, and Outlaw swooped out of the sky, scooping the would-be assassin from the street. The man struggled, and tried to scream, but it was cut short by Outlaw's fangs tearing into his throat. Minutes later, the thoroughly dead man was hanging limply from Outlaw's arms. He smiled evilly. Ko-ran had taught him well. He reached into the man's pocket and removed the five thousand dollars, placing it in his own pants pocket. Then he flew to the lake, dropping the lifeless corpse in the center. 

Feeling refreshed and strong, he headed back to the Raven. 

*** 

Nick sat on Natalie's couch and stared at the movie before him. Then he busted out laughing for the three-hundredth time. Nat grabbed for the remote from Nick, but he pulled it away from her. 

"Nick, give me the remote. You obviously don't want to watch this, I'm sorry I rented it." 

"But Nat, this is so funny, check this out." Nick rewound the tape for the millionth time. "There, see, that is hilarious!" 

Nat growled in frustration and tore the remote from his hands, turning the movie off. "I will never watch 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' with you again!" 

Nick just laughed hysterically and keeled over on the couch. 

Almost at that exact second, both Nick and Nat's beepers went off, causing Nick's laughter to get cut short. 

Nat sighed, reaching for her beeper. "Give you three guesses and the first two don't count. We've got a body. Damn it, all I wanted was one night, just one, without a body to deal with." 

Nick grabbed her by the waist. "You could have my body..." 

Nat struggled away. "Nick, why didn't you do this before? Now we've got to go to work, and..." Before she could finish Nick kissed her, strong and passionate. She wrapped her arms around him and forgot her arguments. 

"Beep, beep!" 

Nick started kissing her neck, and she just managed to mumble..."Um...Nick, we've got to go to work." 

He stopped and smiled at her. "I know, I just wanted to give you something to think about while we're out there on the crime scene." 

"Nick, you can be such a jerk..." 

"Only if I don't fulfill my promises..." He smiled. 

Her eyes widened, but she picked up the phone and dialed the office. 

Reese picked up with his usual spiel, "Toronto Metro Police, Captain Reese." 

"This is Dr. Lambert." 

"Oh, good we were just about to call the search parties. Is Knight there with you? We can't find him at home..." 

"Yes, he is." 

"Oh." the captain seemed to come to his bearings slowly. "I'm truly sorry to bother you, and you know I wouldn't do it if it wasn't absolutely necessary..." 

"Yes, Captain, what is it?" 

"One of our boys was undercover, we found him floating in the lake tonight, he still seems pretty fresh. Dr. Wilson has already done the preliminaries, but I'd like you to take a look as well. He's in the morgue now." 

Nat nodded, "Uh-huh. Okay, I'll be there in a little bit." 

"Good. Put Knight on. " 

Nick took the phone and smiled at Nat. "Knight here." 

"Knight, I need you to come in and look at some crime scene photos, maybe help us sort out this mess. You know I'd never ask you to do this if it wasn't one of ours." 

Nick nodded the affirmative. "Yes, Captain, I'll get right on it." 

*** 

The club was hopping tonight. It seems all the city's goths had decided to drop by. Outlaw looked around the crowd and smiled. He felt so _good_. He stopped at the bar. Miklos gave him a funny look. 

"You okay?" he asked. 

Outlaw wondered if he asked all the vampires that. This put a question immediately in outlaw's mind. How much does Miklos know? Was Miklos a vampire? Outlaw tried to catch a heartbeat, but with all the music and mortals, he couldn't tell. He sighed. 

"Yeah, just great. How 'bout a shot of the house special, right here." He pointed to the bar. 

Miklos nodded and poured the bloodwine into the glass. He passed it to Outlaw, glancing sideways at him. "Just what happened tonight?" 

Outlaw immediately came to attention. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, you look so...I don't know, confidant, self-assured. As if you finally figured something out. What was it?" 

Outlaw smiled and sipped the blood from his glass. "You tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine." 

Miklos considered this. "But I have no secrets." 

Outlaw raised his eyebrows at this. Miklos still had the bottle in his right hand, but his left was free. Outlaw grabbed it and felt for a pulse. The arm was iron cold, and there was no pulse. Miklos calmly put the bottle down and dug his fingernails into Outlaw's hand. He let go, and Miklos backed away. 

"See, you did have a secret, now I know. I'll tell you mine now..." 

Miklos glared at him from behind the bar. "You could have just asked." 

Outlaw looked at him. "But what if I was wrong?" 

Miklos smiled. "You're all right. Now, what did you learn?" 

Outlaw would have blushed had such a thing been possible. "You're going to laugh." 

Miklos smiled, his eyes showing a brief flicker of gold. "I never laugh at another of us." 

Outlaw looked down at the bar. "I werned now no ny." He mumbled. 

Miklos almost shouted over the music. "What?" 

Outlaw looked Miklos in the eye. "I learned how to fly." 

Miklos's face brightened considerably. "That's what I thought you said, I just wanted to hear you say it again." He smirked. "Why'd it take you so long?" 

Outlaw looked at the bar and his glass again. "I didn't know anything when I was made, I might as well still be a fresh kill." 

"But see, you're making progress, and progress is good," Miklos said as he wiped a glass. 

"Yeah." *** 

Ko-ran sat at a booth in the back and watched Outlaw talk to Miklos. He'd seen the altercation, and it's after-effects. He was certain they would get along just fine. 

Ko-ran sat alone and stared at the sea of mortals. He was lonely. Staring into his glass, he noted where everyone else was. Lucien and Sarah had not come down yet this evening, but he knew they had not left. Apparently, they were quite an item. Sin and Tres had started their new lives in the South of Toronto, and were very happy to be doing so. All his fosterlings were busy, and he was alone. He understood it, but still hated it. 

Even his newest friend, Vachon, had opted for another place to be tonight. He was with his mortal girlfriend. Ko-ran smirked. She knew more about vampires than she let on, that much was certain. 

He stared into the sea of mortals dancing to the dark gothic music. Maybe it was time for him to pick a new child, a new immortal all his own. The sea of people undulated, and Ko-ran began to examine them, one by one. 

*** 

"Vachon! Why do you find this movie so funny?" Tracy was miffed. 

He just held his side and laughed a deep belly laugh. 

"This isn't even a comedy, it's a western. I thought you liked those. Come on, Vachon, the movie Tombstone is no laughing matter!" She shook her head. 

Vachon held his side and in-between giggled, he mumbled, "But it wasn't like that at all. I was there." 

"Well, it's a movie, Vachon, and it's not supposed to be accurate, it supposed to be entertaining." 

"I'm entertained." 

She sighed, "You sure look like it." 

Tracy's phone rang. 

"Damn it, it's supposed to be my night off." 

Vachon hit  on the VCR, and forced the air into his lungs. Laughing like that was not a normal thing for him, and it took a lot out, but it was so much fun. 

"Vetter...oh-no...okay...I'll be right in."  "Oh, Vachon, I'm sorry, I have to go. You're welcome to stay here and make yourself comfortable, I have to go." She grabbed her coat and headed for the door. 

"See you later then." 

She smiled back at Vachon, then she was gone. 

Vachon stared at the door and sighed. He pushed the button on the VCR marked  and started to chuckle again. He glanced at the box, "Tombstone". Funny, Val Kilmer didn't look anything like old Doc did. *** (End Part 1) (Start Part 2) 

Nick was staring at some crime scene photos and evidence in a few plastic bags. There wasn't much, but he'd only been floating for a few hours according to Nat. The only things they had to go on were a small piece of an envelope, and the testimony of the other officers who were trailing him for the bust. They'd lost track of him as they made the arrest. Mr. Diamond had admitted under questioning that he'd given the undercover cop money to kill his wife. They had him on that one. They tried to get him to admit that he'd done something to the cop, but he wouldn't say anything about that, either he really wasn't guilty of it, or he was more afraid of someone else. Nick was about to book some time with him when the phone rang. 

"Nick?" Nat's voice screeched from the phone. "You need to come down here...I think there's something you should see." 

Suddenly Nick felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. Another vampire. That's what she was going to tell him. "Nat, is it what I think it is?" 

She nodded, then chokingly into the phone, "Yes, I checked it under the microscope." 

"Damn." Nick muttered. Time to pay a visit to the Raven. 

"Busy?" a perky voice interrupted. Tracy had reported in. 

Nick, still on the phone, said to Nat, "I'll see if I can get any info on that for you..." 

"Thanks, Nick," Natalie seemed relieved. 

"I'll see you later," 

"Yeah, Nick...you'd better." Images of their last few minutes of her apartment fluttered in her mind. 

Nick smiled. "You bet," and hung up. 

Tracy smiled at Nick. "Good date?" 

"Got interrupted, just like yours." Nick said and put the photos on his desk. 

Tracy blushed. 

Nick got his coat off the coat rack and started to put it on. 

"Need some help?" Tracy offered. 

Nick smiled at her, "Not this time, got some business. See what you can make of those crime scene photos." 

"You got it." 

Nick wandered off in the general direction of the Raven. *** 

Ko-ran was still examining the mortals when Outlaw sat down beside him. 

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Outlaw mentioned. 

"Yes, indeed. I was looking for a new child perhaps, but they all seem so...needy. I want an independent type who won't be afraid to leave when the time comes. How 'bout you? I saw you talked with Miklos." 

"Yeah, pretty secretive isn't he? He seemed so reserved. Never expected him to be anything other than mortal. 

Ko-ran smiled. "Things are not always what you expect, or think them to be." 

"That's for sure." 

Nick came in then, he glanced around the room, finally coming over to Ko-ran and Outlaw. 

"Someone made a kill tonight, an undercover cop got taken down. D'you know anything about it?" 

Outlaw had been taking a sip of his bloodwine, had been about to swallow it; instead he almost spit it all over the table. Carefully, he swallowed it, and looked at Nick. "What undercover cop?" 

Nick sized Outlaw up. "An undercover in a sting to catch a guy who tried to have someone kill his wife." 

Outlaw turned white as a sheet. "I'm sorry..." 

That's as far as he got. Nick picked him up and hauled him into a back office. 

"What do you mean, you're sorry?" He jacked him up on the wall of the office. 

Outlaw struggled at first, then gave up. The 800-year-old vampire was just too much for him. Outside, Ko-ran listened intently, not wanting to interfere if he could help it. 

"You killed him?" 

"Uh..." Outlaw mumbled. 

Nick shook him violently. "Did you do it?" 

"Yeah, I thought he really was going to kill that woman, how the hell was I supposed to know it was a setup?" 

Nick relaxed his grip on Outlaw. "Be careful next time, damn it. You aren't even supposed to do that anymore...kill." 

"Yeah, I know, but I thought I was doing a good deed. I'm sorry." 

Nick sighed. Time for Nat to fudge some more paperwork. "Just keep your fangs in their sockets from now on." He trudged out of the Raven, barely acknowledging Ko-ran. 

Outlaw brushed back to the table, looking rather shaken. He picked up his glass, and it almost spilled everywhere. Carefully, he gulped it down. 

"Problem?" Ko-ran asked. 

Outlaw shook his head 'no'. "Nothing I couldn't handle. Mistakes happen." 

*** 

Nat was finishing up the paperwork as Nick and Tracy came in. The clock read 4:35 a.m., and it was almost time to get off shift. 

Nick looked at Nat and said a shy, "Hi." 

She smiled. "Just finishing up the report for you guys, give me a minute..." she typed the last few words into the computer, then the printer roared to life. She picked it up and read it to the Detectives: "The subject was drowned and pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m. No foul play is suspected, probable cause of death, suicide." 

Nick nodded slowly. "What about the money?" 

Nat shook her head; "The lake floated it away. I don't know Nick." 

Tracy nodded, almost falling asleep. "Well, I'll let you two get back to your date, I've got someone waiting for me...hopefully." 

After Tracy left, Nick smiled at Nat..."Now, where were we?" he said as he kissed her, running his tongue along her lips and mouth. She moaned. 

"Um, I take it I'm interrupting," Grace said as she walked in. 

Nat sighed as Nick broke the kiss. "Catch you later, Nat," he said as he headed for the door. 

"Nick!...damn. Grace, remind me to put a bell around your neck." 

Grace just smiled. She knew they'd get back together eventually. 

------- Comments greatly appreciated (raven@naturesong.com) ------- Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com We are the enforcements, resistance is futile, you will be silenced. 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: Story 6 Date: Friday, July 02, 1999 6:30 PM 

Toronto Files - Episode 6 The Face of Fear By Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) 

Nat stared at the fudged report. She hated doing this, but it was the only way to protect Nick and the other's secret. Not that she much cared for the others, but she knew Nick did. She was sure she could learn to like them, if time permitted. 

She smiled wryly. Maybe some of them would become family in the future. 

A soft tap on the door interrupted her thoughts. She was about to turn around and open it, when she came face to face with LaCroix. She almost screamed, and held her hands to her mouth to drown it. 

"Shh, cherie. I'm here only for advice." 

Nat's eyes widened and she sat down, taking her hands from her mouth. "What?" She swore she was about to laugh. 

"Well, doctor, you are the only mortal that I have a connection to, however tenuious that connection is." 

"My advice?" she tried to think why LaCroix, all two thousand years of him, would need her advice. 

"Yes, doctor. You see, I've fallen for a rather beautiful woman and her birthday is next week. She's still young enough to celebrate such things, and I thought I'd get her something. What do you suggest?" 

Nat thought she might laugh. No, she was certain she would. She took a deep breath and stiffled it. Now is not the time, Natalie, she thought. "Well, what does she like? Maybe jewlery, a fancy diamond, or a necklace...I don't know her, LaCroix, I don't know what she'd like." 

Lucien's eyes became unfocused as he pictured her in his mind's eye. "She's like a star of the sky, a beautiful jewel herself. Nothing can compare to that." 

"Hmm, LaCroix, it certainly seems she has your heart. How about a tiny ruby shaped like a heart on a necklace?" 

LaCroix thought of this for a minute. He smiled. "Perfect. You are good at this doctor. I thank you," then he kissed her hand. He let it go, and the air displaced as he made a quick exit. 

Nat looked around. He was gone. "Why do they always do that to me," she muttered as she got back to her report. She looked at the clock. It was 5:15 a.m. She was getting off at 6, and the the sun came up at 6:45. She smiled to herself. She never used to keep track of when sunup was. Working with Nick had changed that. 

She sighed as she put the finishing touches on the report. She heard another soft tap on her door. 

"Now, who could that be?" she mumbled to herself. She opened the door, and saw an old man. His hair was greying at the temples, but he was still attractive. "Can I help you?" she asked. 

Before she could move, or do anything, he had a rag over her mouth. She smelled chloraform, and tried not to breath it in. She struggled and tried to scream for Grace. Slowly, despite her struggling, she sank into blackness. 

*** 

Outside of the morgue, Outlaw was waiting for LaCroix. "She tell you what you needed to know?" 

Lucien smiled. "She is a remarkable woman, I think I understand why Nicholas has not yet killed her. She's rather useful." 

"So, what now?" Outlaw smirked. 

"Well, I'm off to the Raven, I need to make an appointment with a jeweler, and you are...?" 

"I think I'll see if the doctor has any leftover samples." he giggled. "Naw, I'd just like to talk to her. I still have a half hour or so before it starts to get light. See you back at the Raven." 

Lucien just nodded and flew off. 

After that, Outlaw made his way into the morgue, following the formaldehyde and blood smells. He saw a man in the doorway, carrying what looked like a dead body. He ducked into a rest room. 

As the man passed by, Outlaw slowly opened the door. The body in his arms was Natalie, he could tell by her wonderful hair. 'This is not good.' Outlaw thought to himself, and slowly followed the stranger. 

*** 

"Wakey, wakey..." was all Natalie heard upon coming back to consciousness. She opened her eyes, at first relieved that there wasn't a bright light in them. Then she looked around. She was in a well, some thirty feet deep, the muck was about an inch deep. Her hands and face were covered with mud and bruises where she had lashed out in her sleep. Bugs crawled on the floor of the damp well, causing her to shake in fear. 

Above her, the gray-haired man grinned at her. He stared into the well and gave a maniacal laugh. "You'll do just fine...Lucien will regret the day he called me 'crazy.' I'll show him." He looked up at the lightening sky. "Got to go, Doctor, sun's coming up...sleep well." 

Natalie's scream was loud in the confines of the well, but no one heard her, except the maniac vampire, who just laughed. 

*** 

At the loft, Nick's phone rang. Normally, he screened his calls, but this one he answered. "Knight." 

Grace's high pitched squeal broke though. "Nick, do you know where Doctor Lambert is? I can't find her anywhere and she didn't book off." 

"Maybe she just forgot." 

"Uh, Nick, she never forgets to book off when she leaves." 

Nick looked at the clock. The sun had come up. There was nothing he could do for now. "Grace, you've called her at home?" 

"Yes, she's not there. I'm really scared for her." 

"Me too. Can you stop by her house on your way home and be certain she's not there?" 

"Yeah, I can do that." 

"Good. We can't call missing persons for 24 hours, but I'll look for her tonight." 

"Thanks Nick" 

"And Grace, call me if she's there." 

"You got it, Nick." 

Nick hung up and started getting a strange feeling. Something just was not right. 

*** 

"A ruby, shaped like a heart...in a 14 caret gold setting..." said the voice on the telephone. 

"Twenty-four," Lucien calmly corrected him. He sat in the bar area of the Raven, using the phone. He didn't want Sarah to hear and spoil her surprise. 

"Okay, twenty-four caret. What caret would you like the ruby? This is going to take a few weeks." 

Lucien sighed, suddenly realizing his whammy wouldn't work over the phone. "I would like to pick the ruby out, and I would really like it by next week...say Wednesday?" 

"No, I couldn't possibly..." 

"Well, then I'll have to find someone who _can_ ." 

Lucien was about to put the phone in its cradle when he heard the frantic complaining of the jeweler. "All right, all right...sir?" 

He smiled and put the phone to his ear again. "Yes, I'm still here." 

"Sir, you know this is going to cost a lot, I'm going to have to put all my other orders on hold, and work exclusively on your request. You are aware how much this is going to cost me?" 

"Money is no object." 

The man on the other end of the phone sighed. "So, you'll come by to fill out the paperwork tonight?" 

Silently, Lucien cursed. Paperwork. He hated paperwork. Why is it mortals had such a fascination with keeping track of everything. He sighed again. "Yes, I will be in your shop this evening, as soon as I can." 

"Good. Thank you, and it's been a pleasure doing business with you." 

"Hmm...I'll bet." Lucien put the phone back in it's cradle. 

"Lucien?" he heard Sarah's voice from upstairs and smiled. She was such a beauty. He was up and at the stairs in a second, when he heard the phone ring. Strange, he thought. He reached over and picked it up. 

"Yes?" 

"LaCroix?!" Nick screeched, "Is Natalie there? Nobody knows where she is." 

"No, Natalie's not here." He looked around just to be sure. It was empty. 

"LaCroix, she's missing." 

"That much is obvious. What would you have me do, Nicholas? I can not very well go look for her now." 

"No, of course not, will you help me find her tonight?" 

"Certainly." 

Nick sniffled on the other end. He'd been crying. LaCroix softened, "I'll help you look for her tonight, we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her." 

"LaCroix, you don't know where she is, do you?" 

"There you go again, Nicholas, assuming I always have bad intentions toward your mortals." 

"You usually do, LaCroix." Nick sneered. 

LaCroix smiled an evil smile. "Yes, but not this time. I promise you, one way or another we will find you Natalie." 

"Thank you, LaCroix." 

LaCroix hung up the phone, momentarily consumed with the feelings coming from his connection with his son. He was truly worried and confused. 

Sarah called again, and Lucien smiled. Time to go to bed for the day. Hmm, that used to not be a good thing; Sarah had changed that. 

*** 

In the well, Natalie tried to get comfortable, but the mud and goo just didn't let her. It seeped in between her fingers, and in her shoes. She'd tried to scream again, but it wouldn't help. 

Suddenly, she heard a scraping at the top of the well. She looked up and strained to see who was there. The lightening sky helped just a little. 

"Hey, Doc'. You okay?" 

She heard the voice, but couldn't quite place the voice. "Who are you?" she asked. 

"My name's Outlaw, I'm a good guy." He held his arm up to shield himself from the rising sun. That's when Nat noticed the smoke. 

"Oh, God, you're going to burn!" 

He squinted down into the well. "Yeah, I've got to tell them where you are though," he started back, away from the well and the sun. 

"Wait, take me with you..." but he was gone. 

Above the well, Outlaw was sprinting by a house, looking for cover. The house door opened, and he was waved in. Blessing his good luck, he ducked in. 

As soon as he did, he realized his mistake. The beckoner, a man with gray hair and an English accent, jacked him up on the wall. 

"Who the hell are you?" 

Outlaw gulped. He knew he'd never get them the information now. 

The man shook him again. "I said who are you?" 

Outlaw mumbled, "I was just looking for a place to get out of the sun, honest." 

"Yeah, right, and I'm the tooth fairy." He said, and threw Outlaw across the room. 

A half an hour later, Outlaw was bruised and bleeding, and chained to a chair. He had tried to fight the Englishman, but he was just too strong. Finally, he'd given up and allowed himself to be beaten to a pulp. Blood tears fell from his eyes and mingled with his spent blood. If only I'd made it to somewhere safe, he kept thinking. It was a sorry thing, but he couldn't help it. "I'm so sorry, Natalie." Were the only words he spoke. 

*** 

"Lucien!" Sarah's screech woke him. He reached over and shook her. She came awake slowly, adjusting to the darkness of the room, versus the brightness in her dream. 

"Lucien, it's Outlaw, he's found Natalie, but he's hurt...oh God, he's so hurt." 

Lucien held her in his arms and stroked her hair. "It's okay, we'll find him, it's okay...do you think you can find him?" 

She nodded. Lucien smiled. "Good. We'll get Nicholas and start looking as soon as it gets dark enough. Shh. It's okay, we'll get him." 

*** "I want to go with you." Ko-ran stated for the umpteenth time. 

Lucien was sitting at the Raven, waiting for Nicholas to arrive. "Yes, I understand you want to come with us, I just think it would be better for someone to be here in case they show up here." 

The Raven's basement door opened and Miklos stepped out. "I'm here. I'll keep watch." He didn't dare look at LaCroix, he knew he was getting one of those looks. The looks that said, how dare you contradict me. Miklos smiled to himself, in spite of it. 

"It's settled then," Ko-ran smiled. Lucien glared at him. 

"Now, now, children," Sarah said as she stepped into the main room of the Raven. "We've got something to do, and fighting with each other won't help our situation." 

Secretly pleased with the way Sarah had taken control of two very old, very powerful vampires, Lucien gave Ko-ran a quiet nod. It was slowly acknowledged. 

The outside door opened then, and Nick stepped halfway in. "Are we ready to go? It's dark enough to fly now." 

Lucien smiled. "Certainly. Sarah, lead the way." 

She took flight, and the three older vampires followed. Soon they were flying over the less populated areas. Several times Sarah would stop and do a 360 degree turn, feeling for the tenuous connection with her maker. She picked it up, usually just a little bit from where she left off. Silently, the others followed. 

*** "He did what?" Tracy screeched 

Reese calmly stated the facts again. "Nick booked off for the night, took a vacation day, said he needed to take care of a family problem." 

Tracy thought about this for a minute, then sighed. "Okay, Captain, no problem." She started for the door. "Hey, Capt, would it be all right if I took a vacation day too, I've got to do something really important." 

"Now, Vetter, we can't have all our good detectives going off on a moment's notice..." 

Tracy wished really hard for Vachon's ability to hypnotize. "Please, just this once, and only if you don't tell Nick. I've got a surprise for him." 

Reese sighed. "Well, I suppose, work it out with the scheduling people, and Tracy?" 

Tracy smiled. "Don't make it a habit." 

"Yes, sir." 

*** In the well, Natalie screamed again. The bugs were out full force now that the sun had set, and they were disgusting. She'd tried several times to try to climb out of the well, and had only succeeded in scraping her hands and knees. Blood flowed freely from the latest scrape on her hand, and she applied pressure to stop it. She didn't need free flowing blood with a vampire holding her hostage. The mud made it worse; she could almost feel the wounds getting infected. 

High above her, the gray-haired vampire peeked into the well again. "Good evening, Doctor. Why the long face, can't you heal yourself?" He sighed. "Of course you can." 

Natalie thought about this confusing statement. What could he mean? She was a doctor, but she couldn't arbitrarily heal herself. 

"Don't worry, I'll have your lover with you soon...LaCroix will pay." 

Now she was really confused. Did he think LaCroix was her lover? *** In her car, Tracy almost missed the vampires take flight. She almost lost them several times; they were almost erratic in their movements. Finally, she tracked them to a small house in the Toronto suburbs. She hid her car nearby, and waited, just in case she was needed. 

*** In the house, Outlaw strained against his chains. Why couldn't he have used rope like they do in the movies? Dried blood coated his clothes, but his wounds had all healed. He strained again. Slowly, he saw one of the links in the chain near his right arm start to move. 

The door opened, and he stopped. The old man walked in and poked Outlaw with the business end of an ax. "What's your name, boy?" 

Outlaw didn't want to talk to him, but he didn't want to get beat up again either. "Uh, Outlaw." 

"Yeah, really? Outlaw? You don't look very tough now, tied up and all. I figure I'll take you out right now, before anybody gets the bright idea to start looking for you." He hefted the ax like a baseball bat and aimed for Outlaw's neck. He practiced swinging it a few times, just barely touching Outlaw's exposed throat. He swallowed thickly and tried to shrink in the chair. 

"Oh, now don't do that, you'll just suffer more. I've seen it." 

Outlaw decided maybe he needed to get this guy to talk, maybe he'd spare his head for a few minutes. "Uh, what's your name?" 

The old man smiled. "Olen. I'm a friend of LaCroix's. Perhaps you've heard of him?" 

Outlaw was silent, and Olen knew he was right. "And this woman in the well, he is LaCroix's girlfriend, the healer? Of course she is." 

Now it all made sense to Outlaw. 

Olen practiced one more time with the ax. 

Outlaw thought a minute. Olen knew LaCroix loved a woman, the healer. He had seen LaCroix with Natalie, and just naturally assumed that Natalie was LaCroix's love. He was getting revenge on LaCroix by killing his lover, at least that's what Olen must've thought. This was all a big mistake. There was no one he could tell; his head was going to be a home run. 

Still, he had to try. "Olen, listen, you've got the wrong one. That woman you have in that well is not the healer. You grabbed the wrong one." 

"Yeah, sure." He pulled the ax back for a long swing. Outlaw closed his eyes and waited for death...but nothing happened. Cautiously, he opened his eyes. The sight that awaited him was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. 

Nick had the guy jacked up to the wall with the ax between them, choking Olen. 

Nick was vamped out, all golden eyes and fangs. He held Olen up seemingly without effort. "Where is she?" he hissed. 

Olen came to bearings with his situation and slugged Nick one. Nick was stunned at first, and shook his head to clear it, only to get another fist in the mouth. He dropped the ax to fend off the blows, and that's when it got nasty. Olen vamped out and started to tear at Nick with his fangs, drawing blood and leaving bloody welts. 

Nick put his arms up to fend off the attack when it suddenly stopped. He waited another few seconds to be sure it wasn't a trick, then he opened his eyes. LaCroix and Ko-ran had Olen secure between them, one with each arm. They started to pull, causing Olen to cry out. 

Outlaw strained on the chains again and they broke, taking most of the chair with them. He reached over and picked up the ax Nick had dropped. "Batter up," he said. 

*** 

"Natalie!" Nick's frantic voice echoed in the well. 

"Nick! I'm down here, help." 

Before she even finished speaking, Nick was at her side, holding her, cradling her. "You're okay, hon, you're okay," He reassured himself. 

"Oh, Nick,I'msogladyou'rehere...therewasthisvampirewhowastryingtogetrevengeonLaC roix,andforsomereasonhethoughtIwasinlovewithLaCroix..." her voice trailed off in tears. 

Her story came out a big jumble, but Nick wasn't listening. He just held her close. 

*** 

In the house, Olen's head was several paces from his body. It convulsively opened and closed it's mouth, but no sound came out. Finally, the movement stopped. 

Outlaw looked at LaCroix and Ko-ran. "I'm sorry, I tried to tell you where she was, I just couldn't get out in time, the sun was coming up and there was nothing I could do..." 

"Relax," Ko-ran said and motioned outside. Sarah stepped into the house. "It appears you do have a connection to your children after all. You did lead us here, indirectly." 

Outlaw let out a sigh of relief. 

Sarah looked at Outlaw and smiled. "Glad to see you're still in one piece." 

Outlaw raised his eyebrows, "It was rather close." 

Sarah looked at the blood and carnage and turned away. "I'll see if Natalie needs any help," she said. 

"I'll go with you," Outlaw volunteered. 

Ko-ran nodded. "Let's all get out of here." 

Slowly, the vampires left the bloody scene. Sarah put her gifts to use healing Natalie and making sure no infections would do any permanent damage. 

Finally, one exhausted mortal carried by a vampire crusader, was flown to a certain Toronto loft. LaCroix and Sarah headed back to the Raven, and Ko-ran and Outlaw discussed the philosophy of life. Finally, late in the evening, Ko-ran started back to the Raven. Outlaw looked up at the stars in the yard near the well. You could never see the stars like this in the city. 

Suddenly, he thought he heard something, a twig snapping. He glanced at the house out of the corner of his eye, and he saw her, Miss Perky. He stayed absolutely still until she stepped into the house, then he took flight. No reason to get caught by a cop at a crime scene. 

*** Tracy could not believe all the blood. It was everywhere, on the floor, on the broken furniture. Then she saw the body. It was laying on it's back, it's arms stretched toward it's head. They were moving. She saw them touch the head a little, then reach for it full force. It was somehow still alive. Her next thoughts were automatic. She grabbed a piece of broken chair, the chains still hanging off of it, and jammed it deep in it's chest. The hands, which had almost had the head positioned correctly, dropped the head and shook. Then they relaxed, and the body burned slowly away. 

"Nick, you really owe me for this one," Tracy said as she made a break for her car. 

------- Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com We are the enforcements, resistance is futile, you will be silenced. 

From: Cousin Raven  To:  Subject: The Most Human of Sins (1/1) Date: Saturday, July 03, 1999 8:54 PM 

----------------------------- The Toronto Files - Episode 7 The Most Human Sins All other episodes archived at http://www.naturesong.com/raven/tfiles.htm ----------------------------- The Most Human Sins By Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) 

Sin could not believe what Tres was saying. "What do you mean? Are you leaving?" 

Lately, Sin had been rather absorbed in her painting and had not spent much time with Tres. It was hard for her to work and spend time with him, even though she still loved him. She sighed and stared out of the apartment window into the Toronto night. It was beautiful out there, clear and bright, a complete contrast to the atmosphere of the house. 

"You're asking me to choose between my painting and you? Why can't you just understand that sometimes I _LIKE_ to be alone and do my thing? It's not that I don't love you..." 

"Of course not," he said sarcastically. "It's only been a week since we've made love, and you practically ignore me all the other times I see you. What am I supposed to think, Sin?" 

"Look," Sin put her proverbial cards on the table. "I don't need you or anyone else to be fulfilled. Obviously, you need someone, or you wouldn't be hassling me like this." 

"Oh, I need someone to be fulfilled? Fulfill this," he yelled. He stomped out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him. 

Sin started to cry. "How could he do this to me? He was so supportive of everything I do, so loving, and now, he's like a total stranger. What is it, I can be fulfilled, but only if he agrees and only if I don't take any time away from him. Damn him, he's such a jerk." She shook her head. "Guess this apartment deal wasn't such a good thing after all." She hugged herself close. "What am I going to do?" 

*** 

As soon as he left the house, Tres regretted it. Why had he said such a foolish thing? Why did her work bother him so? It wasn't really her work; it was the fact that she wouldn't spend time with him. She used to spend all her time with him, granted, she never did get anything done. It really wasn't his place to get angry, but damn, the woman would go into her studio and paint for hours, sometimes days, without coming out, without even seeing him. When she did see him, she seemed to ignore him: she was so wrapped up in her work. It hurt him, it hurt allot more than he wanted to admit. 

Carefully, after looking around for any prying eyes, he took flight. He needed to be alone for awhile, to think about the situation. Maybe the Raven would be open, he thought. 

*** 

Ko-ran sat at a table in the Raven and stared at his wineglass. The blood was extremely good this evening; he wondered who its donor was. In his soundbooth, Lucien was preparing for the evening's monologue. Sarah watched him from the bar, but she was also writing in a journal. Ko-ran smiled. He loved the way they both seemed to keep their lives together and separate at the same time. They were truly made for each other. He took another sip of his blood wine. 

Tres cautiously came into the Raven. Ko-ran saw him from the corner of his eye and motioned him over. Tres gratefully sat down. "Have you seen Sin this evening?" 

A confused look came into Ko-ran's eyes. "No, I thought she was with you..." 

"She is, it's just that we had a fight, and I thought she might come here after." 

"Oh, I'm sorry, she's not here." 

"No, it's...it's a good thing, I didn't want to see her now. I've got some thinking to do." 

Ko-ran shook his head. "Poor thing, you still have yet to learn; the women always get their way in the end, it's been like that as far back as I can remember. You'll think you're winning the fight, right up into the last insult, then, they've got you backed into a corner. Don't do it, my friend, don't let it happen." 

Tres sighed. "But, I love her, I love to be with her, it's just sometimes she doesn't want to be with me, it's like her work is more important to her than me." 

Ko-ran smiled a knowing smile. "Truly, it's not that at all. She has something, something that drives her. You may think it's driving her away from you, but that's not so. She just needs a creative element to be who she really is. She'll come back to you in the end." 

"I hope you're right." 

Ko-ran just smiled. 

*** 

In his soundbooth, Lucien prepared the music for the evening. He glanced at the clock; it was almost time to start. He situated his blood glass, and got comfortable in his chair. 

"Good evening, gentle listeners. Tonight we talk of love, love and separation. Not the kind of separation when your lover leaves, that's the permanent kind, I speak of self-separation, the kind of separation where two people can be in the same room, and do their own thing, and both are happy. Both are doing what they like, no one is angry one is not paying attention to the other A perfect pair. Do you have that, gentle listeners? Oh, for certain, when you first get together with another, you're infatuated with each other, all other responsibilities go by the wayside, and you move as a ghost in your own world, fascinated only by your partner. 

But what of the future? When you sit in your easy chair, with your remote control in one hand and a beer in the other, What will your life be like then? and it need not necessarily be those items you sit with, But that you sit alone, and are not fulfilled. Do you really need another to be that? At first, you think so, then, as time wanes, you see you are still everything you used to be and some take offense, offense you do not spend all your waking moments fawning over them, like you used to. 

So, gentle listeners, I leave you tonight with a single thought: Are you as fulfilled alone as you are with your lover? It is the most human of sins, to take your lover for granted.to think you know who they are, when you really don't." 

Lucien sat back and looked out the glass window. He was still fulfilled without Sarah, but he loved her still. He could see Tres outside, angsting over his lover with much the problem he had just discussed. Lucien smiled. Blood connection was a wonderful thing sometimes. He heard Tres' voice almost as if he were standing right there. Ko-ran's gift was more than just memories of his brother; they were a connection to Ko-ran himself. Perhaps he could help Tres find something that fulfilled him as much as Sin's painting had fulfilled her. 

*** 

Sin sat in her bedroom and looked out the window. Tres had been gone for hours now. She was worried, even though she knew he could take care of himself. What did he expect her to say? Did he expect her to somehow to drop the painting that inspired her, the one thing that kept her sane? 

Her tears flowed freely down her cheek. She had no idea what to do. She could leave Tres, her love, her husband, or she could talk to him and try to work it out. She sighed. It would be so easy to just leave Tres and start over again on her own. She would miss him, but sometimes, you just have to go your own way. 

She could also try to talk with him, but it seemed every time she tried, he didn't talk. He didn't tell her how he felt about anything. It was annoying. When she tried to talk to him about his not talking to her, he accused her of never telling him how she felt. That wasn't true, she told him how she felt all the time, he just didn't listen. Her tears dropped onto her lab, staining it. She didn't care. 

In a flush of energy, she stepped into her studio and began to paint. 

*** 

At the Raven, Tres started feeling guilty. He had left Sin alone and gone off all in a huff. She was probably crying all this time. He stood from the table and motioned to Ko-ran. "I've got to go, Sin's probably expecting me." He started off but was intercepted at the door by Lucien. 

Lucien smiled at Tres and passed him a single white rose. "Tell her you love her, and no matter what happens, that will never change." 

Tres smiled and took the rose. He sniffed it and the fragrant smell caught in his nose, tickling it. He sneezed. Embarrassed, he looked up to Lucien, but he was gone already. Shrugging, Tres stepped into the back alley and took flight. 

As he flew, he remembered once, as a child he'd helped his grandmother grow roses. She must've grown twelve different kinds, all different colors. The memories made him smiled. He'd always loved his grandma. 

As he landed in his front yard, he knew what he would do. 

*** 

The air pressure in the house changed, and Sin covered the painting. She started cleaning her brushes, intent on spending time with Tres. He stepped into the studio and regarded her. 

"I love you, you know. No matter what happens, I always will love you." 

Sin just smiled and finished cleaning her brushes. 

Tres offered her the rose and said in a quiet voice, "I've decided I need a hobby too, while you're painting, you know. I thought I'd start growing roses. We can get the manager to let us." 

Sin smiled. Tres was being so nice. Someone must've talked some sense into him. 

"Tres, this is beautiful. I'm sorry I'm so distracted with my painting..." 

"No, I'm sorry. It's your work; you're passionate about it. I was a fool not to see it sooner. I love you, Sin, and painting is a part of you." 

They hugged then, Sin getting small paint splotches on Tres. "I love you, Tres, and I'm so glad you're willing to understand." 

"Absolutely," He sighed, and they kissed then, a passionate, loving kiss. 

---------------------------------- 

Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com We are the enforcements, resistance is futile, you will be silenced. 

----- Original Message ----- From: Cousin Raven  Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 1999 11:14 PM Subject: Wild Night 

All characters herein were borrowed, abused, and put back. Characters are owned and copyrighted by Sony Pictures/Tristar Corp and were created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen. I'm just borrowing them for awhile, I promise to put them back in relatively good condition. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarity to any real persons, living, dead or undead, or any other fan fiction, is purely coincidental. Also, nothing in this story is intended to offend anyone. If I screw something up, please let me know. 

Toronto Files - Episode 8 All other episodes archived at http://www.naturesong.com/raven/tfiles.htm There's also my idea of what the cast looks like and a soundtrack for each of the episodes. --- Wild Night By Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) 

Lucien sighed into the phone to let the jeweler know just how exasperated he was. "But," he said calmly into the phone, only to get interrupted. 

"No, no but's, we can't do it in 24K gold, it will be too soft. If you prefer, we could do it in 14K, 18K, 22K, or platinum, but not 24K." 

Lucien sighed yet again. The voice on the other end sounded like a little old man, and he was sure if he really wanted to, he could whammy him, but he reconsidered when the man spoke again, "Look, you called me, you know I do good work, would I lie? This really is best, for you and the work. Wouldn't want to lose your stone, would you?" 

"No, I wouldn't." Lucien paused. "Platinum then, and a two caret stone. I'll be by to pick out the stone in a bit." 

The voice on the other end sounded relieved that it hadn't taken more convincing. "I have three good rubies to choose from. I'll have them laid out for you when you get here." 

Lucien peeked just a bit behind the curtains and judged the brightness outside with almost two thousand years practice, "Yes, I'll be there in about an hour. Thank you." 

Lucien shook his head and muttered, "Mortals..." 

*** 

In the bedroom, Sarah was still sleeping. Lucien smiled as he gazed at her. She was beautiful, and he couldn't help noticing it; when he told her so, she denied it. Such was the way of women, they never believed they were beautiful, or they believed it when it wasn't true. He covered her with the blanket, and she stirred a bit before dropping back off to sleep. 

Very few times had he felt this way about anyone, mortal or immortal. His mind wandered back through the years and lingered fondly on a few beautiful faces. Janette's face was always in the forefront, and it made him a bit sad, Janette had been gone for quite a while. It lingered again at Fleur, and a small pit of anger burned in his chest. He could've had her forever, but Nicholas was right. Like so many others, it might have destroyed the thing he loved in her, the goodness. 

He stepped down the stairs, headed for the Raven's club area. He needed a drink or two before he faced the jeweler. He had to be sure it was perfect for her. 

*** 

As they drove down the street, Tracy looked at Nick out of the corner of her eye. He hadn't made it obvious that she knew his secret, maybe he didn't realize it. Images of the decapitated vampire trying to put his head back on swam in her mind. Tracy tried to think of a tactful way to approach the situation. 

"Nick, I know..." Nearby gunshots cut her off. 

The radio piped to life. "81-Kilo, 81-Kilo, be advised shots fired near your location...assist and report back...paramedics are on their way." 

Nick grabbed the mic and spoke quickly, "81-Kilo, 10-4," and he swung the car around. 

Tracy's next thought was, "Great. Maybe I should just shut up after all." 

*** 

Sarah woke just after Lucien left. She stretched while still in bed, so happy, and so comfortable. She got up slowly and stretched yet again. "Life is grand," she thought, then she giggled. "Or unlife, as the case may be. I feel pretty alive right now." 

She sat on the bed and stared at a mirror on the door. Her reflection was strong and pure, even though the sun was down. She'd found that fascinating the first time she'd looked into a mirror with Lucien on her arm. It reflected back her reflection, flanked by a ghostly Lucien. It was rather unnerving at the time. Now it was rather pleasant. 

She started playing with her hair, determining exactly how it would look best. "Maybe I should cut it," she murmured. 

She felt a slight hunger pang, and saw her fangs lengthen and eyes golden in the mirror. "Hmm, perhaps I should get something to eat first..." 

*** 

Lucien stared at the sign above the jeweler's shop. It read, "Infinity Jewelers." Rather appropriate, he thought, that he was buying jewelry for someone who would be around for infinity, at least if he had anything to say about it. 

The jewelry store itself was small, but it was surrounded by a workshop where custom jewelry was made. That, after all, is where they made most of their money; selling exquisite custom made jewelry to immortals who had the money to blow. 

The man behind the counter looked just like Lucien pictured him; an old bent man with small round spectacles, and a sour disposition. 

"May I help you?" he queried. 

"Yes, I'm here about a ruby necklace." 

"Oh, yes," the old man's demeanor suddenly became very animated and colorful. He pulled out a small velvet lined box with three hearts proudly displayed. 

Lucien examined them closely. The larger one was not quite the right color, the smaller one was just that, too small. The middle one was perfect. "That one," he said. 

"Right-o," the little man said. "Perfect choice. Now, we'll put this in a platinum setting did you say?" 

"Yes, platinum." 

"And how would you like the setting to be? I can do four prong...five prong..." 

"Six prong. I don't want it coming out of the setting. And I want you to surround it with a tiny gold ribbon." 

"Excellent choice...and you will pay for this, how?" 

Lucien smiled. "Let's just see the finished product, and soon. Then you'll get your payment, and I promise..." he looked the old man deep in the eyes, "You will not be disappointed." 

"I...will...not...be...disappointed." 

"Yes, now I'll need that soon, say three days." Lucien turned up the whammy. 

"Three...days...yes, I'll have it ready for you." 

"Thank you, it's been a pleasure doing business with you..." Then Lucien stepped out of the jewelry store and into the Toronto night. 

*** 

Before, he had been a grandfather of two, and a father of four. Before, he had been a 78-year-old man on his way to get a newspaper at the corner store. Before, he had been intent on getting back before "Jeopardy" came on. But that was before he'd been shot. 

He'd been walking out of his apartment, coming down the steps that led to the street, in a hurry, so he could watch Jeopardy, and he'd heard the shots. He heard them before he felt them; they sounded like a popgun, delivering an almost continuous stream of pain. He'd never even seen the shooter, or the car he was driving...just the street, then the sky as he fell onto his back. Then he felt the blood pool near his head. 

*** 

Nick pulled up to the curb and jumped out. The man was still alive; he could hear his heart beating frantically to make up for the lost blood. He picked up the radio and called in, "This is 81-Kilo, we've got a 10-33 at Lake and Wilson. Request ESV ASAP." 

Tracy got out of the car and held the man, putting pressure against the wounds. His eyes fluttered, but didn't open entirely. She heard him say, "An angel...God sent me an angel to comfort me as I die." 

"Fight it," Tracy said, "You've got to want to live!" 

His eyes fluttered again, and Nick heard his pulse get stronger, just a bit. 

"Hurry..." Tracy whispered. 

*** 

Lucien stared into the night as he felt his son's pain. It was annoying sometimes, that his son could feel so much for these mortals. Would they not _all_ die in the end? So much pain coming from Nicholas' life...pouring into Lucien's. He sighed and took flight, coming to rest in the alley behind the Raven. He stepped in through his private entrance, and began to ready for the night's monologue. 

The crowd outside the window of his soundbooth seemed wild and crazy tonight, more so than normal. He sighed and started looking through the CD's for music that would suit the both craziness outside and Nicholas' anguish. He smiled as he pulled a CD entitled "Girls, Girls, Girls" out. He placed it on the side and readied the first track, "Wild Side". 

*** 

The paramedics had finally arrived, to Tracy's great relief. She stared at her partner who had not moved very close to them throughout the whole situation, he had simply kept a look out for the perpetrators. Tracy had a feeling he wanted to fly up and scout the neighborhood, which is what she would have done. Unlike him, though, she didn't have the option. 

She sighed when they took him from her and put him on a stretcher. He was still breathing, and his heart was beating (she'd taken his pulse constantly since she arrived), and that was a good sign. 

She started back toward the caddie, toward Nick, when she noticed a wicked look in his eyes. It was then she noticed the front of her shirt was covered with the old man's blood. She took a deep breath and backed away from him. 

Inside Nick's head, a war was taking place: between the beast, the vampire and Nick's will, his need to be and look mortal. The vampire reared at the sight of the blood splayed around the area, the blood on Tracy's blouse. It called to him, and he fought it. 

*** 

Lucien stared into space. He felt the struggle as keenly as if it were his own. Knowing he could not influence the final decision, the final battle, he sighed and tried to push it out of his mind. After 800 years, he'd learned to stop trying. *** (End Part 1) 

(Start Part 2) 

*** Nick closed his eyes and regained his composure. Tracy was talking to a neighbor. He saw her go into the house with her. 

Looking around, he saw spent shells on the road. The crime lab boys had just arrived and he pointed the shells out to them. Photographs were taken, and the casings were collected and labeled in bags. 

Just after they finished, Tracy came out of the house. She had rinsed out her shirt, and the smell was more bearable to him. They interviewed everyone around and determined the shooters had been rival gang members. The rivals were the "Pop-killers" and the shooters were the "Boomerangs." Further research revealed the granddaughter of the victim was a member of the "Pop-killers." 

"Just great," Nick muttered when he found out. 

Tracy had heard the same information and noted Nick's reaction. She almost giggled, maybe he didn't want to fish anymore bullets out of his skin. 

That really bothered Tracy suddenly. She knew she'd seen him get shot a half a dozen times, but always put it down to dumb luck. Now, she realized what it really was; Nick wasn't lucky, just effective at hiding it. She wondered how many times Nat had dug bullets out of him. 

Nick and Tracy finished gathering statements at close to midnight. They got into the caddie and a quick call to dispatch informed them the victim, "Lawrence Fisher", was in stable condition. They both sighed their relief. 

Nick put the caddie in drive and took off. They had reports to file at the station. 

Catching a whiff of blood, Nick opened the car window. It was not lost on Tracy, who then opened her window. 

This last action confused Nick. Why would she do that? Had she finally figured it out? 

*** 

Lucien placed the CD in the CD player and the music played into the Toronto night. 

"Kneel down ye sinners to streetwise religion Greed's been crowned the new king..." 

That's all it was, greed. The petty mortals try to make a name for themselves, to make themselves unique. Few ever succeeded. It was ironic; that after a mortal lifetime of doing just that, trying to distinguish himself, he'd become a vampire, and been forced to blend in, at least nominally. 

The dancers in the club got even more rambunctious, so he closed the curtain. "Mortals are such fools," he muttered. 

*** 

Sarah checked herself in the mirror one last time. Her hair, done up with small ringlets dropping down, framed her face, which made it even more beautiful. She gazed at the dress she wore, a small black lace dress with an open back. It looked truly beautiful; even she had to admit. Smiling in the mirror, she determined it would be wonderful to show this to Lucien right now, instead of waiting for her birthday. Slowly, she crept down the stairs to the Raven's main club. 

*** 

Nick stared across his desk at Tracy, who was working on the report. He looked back at his paperwork, then back at her. It was bugging him. She must know _something_ otherwise, why would she have done the things she had done. 

As he saw it, he had three options. He could ask her if she wanted to talk about something, he could ignore it, or he could whammy it out of her. He didn't like to whammy most of the time, at least not to people he knew; it caused so many problems further down the road, so he rejected that idea. 

The last two options, talk to her, or ignore it, floated in his mind. 

*** 

The Pop-killers met at a back corner of the Raven. It was the darkest club in town. 

Billie-Jean Fisher, granddaughter of Lawrence, the shooting victim, called by the rest of the gang "Be-bop", or sometimes, just "Bops" stared at the ceiling in a dark corner of the club. They'd shot her grandpa. They would pay. 

The rest of the gang filtered in: Tom-tom, Pop-top, Fire, and Demon. They held mean looks and Billie could feel the anger. 

"They got him, but it looks like he's going to be okay, Be-bop," Demon tried to comfort her. 

"I don't want your sympathy, I want revenge. When and where, I already know how." 

Demon looked at Pop-top and Tom-tom. "Whenever you want, Bops." 

*** Sarah crept into the club and immediately noticed the rowdiness. It was stronger than usual. She caught little bits of conversation as she made her way to the soundbooth. 

"So, you want to go back to my place?" 

"Can I get a pina colada?" 

"I want revenge." 

The last bit of conversation, Sarah noted. She looked for the source and found a girl, not more than twelve. She was hanging with a group of rather mean looking, but mortal individuals. How she had gotten in here was anybody's guess. 

Her first thought was to disregard them as insignificant, but the mean look the girl gave stopped that. She watched carefully from the shadows. 

"Boomerangs are bastards," Be-bop stated flatly. 

Sarah watched them for a few minutes, getting the details of the revenge. After a bit, she looked over to the bar and noticed Miklos watching her. He was poker-faced and quiet. She mouthed "Nick" to him and he nodded slightly. He stepped into the back and picked up the phone. 

*** 

Finally having arrived at a decision, Nick started, "Tracy, I..." 

The phone rang. Damn it, was Nick's next thought. Every time I try to have a real conversation with someone, or try to kiss someone, namely Nat, something happens. Why? He sighed and picked it up. 

"Knight." 

"Yes, Detective?" Miklos whispered. 

Nick came alert instantly as he recognized the voice. Miklos never referred to him as "Detective" only "Nick". 

"Yes, is there a problem?" 

"Yes. There's a pop-killer here. They're all here. They're planning something. Better hurry." Then . 

Nick put the phone down. "Tracy?" 

Tracy looked up, "Hmm? Nat got something for us?" 

"Uh, no, we've got a lead. Meet me at the Raven," he said and blew out of the bullpen. 

Tracy mimicked Nick as she got her purse and coat. "Meet me there...meet me there...maybe someday I'll be able to fly out to the crime scene and say, 'Meet me there'." She sighed. It had been a long night, and this promised to make it longer still. Quickly, she made her way to her little green Volkswagen. 

*** 

Be-bop stared at each gang member in turn. "Okay, so that's the plan. Are we ready?" 

Everyone nodded back, and they started for the door. As they approached it, they found their way blocked by a very quiet Miklos. He just stood there. When they turned to find the back door, they found Sarah, and several others had corralled them in this spot. There was no getting out without bloodshed. Be-bop pulled her .38 from her belt and pointed it at Miklos' chest. 

"Get out of the way." 

He just smiled, and that unnerved her. People were supposed to get scared when you had the gun. She got mad then, and pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped through Miklos, but naturally, he did not notice it. He grabbed Be-bop and jacked her up on the wall. Each gang member was grabbed by other patrons, a few of whom were mortal. Nick blew in then, hair all disheveled from the wind. He looked around, then calmly started cuffing them, starting with Be-bop who was staring in disbelief at Miklos. 

The blood from the wound had clotted and he could feel it healing. He slipped behind the bar to get the stain off his black shirt. It wasn't really visible, it was the point of the matter; he'd lost enough clothes to bloodstains. 

A few minutes later, Nick had the whole gang cuffed and sitting on the floor. He was on the phone to dispatch when Tracy strolled in and noted the situation. 

"Got 'em again, huh. As usual," she muttered. 

In the crowd the one they called "Outlaw" was watching her. He approached and said, "Hey, Miss Perky...whatsamatter? Not perky today?" 

She wanted to shove her foot into his mouth. She wanted to slug him one. She wanted to spit in his face. Instead, she said, "Yeah, always perky. I'm the one with the superhuman partner." 

Outlaw's nostrils twitched and he remembered the night she's found the Olen's body. Apparently, she knew more than she let on. 

Outlaw thought about all the things Ko-ran was teaching him. "Hey," he said, "Let's go have a talk." 

*** Lucien stepped out of his soundbooth just in time to see the gang members get carted out of the Raven. Then he saw Sarah and was floored. She dressed up nice and pretty to get his attention. All the apparent chaos had not damaged her one iota. He smiled and swept her off her feet. 

"You deserve something special," he said. 

*** 

Tracy hadn't said anything the entire way back to the station. She had come back from talking with someone in the back, he hadn't seen who, and she'd not said a word since then. She'd been almost catatonic. The uniforms carted the gang members out of the Raven, and the music and dancing had started up again. Nick had volunteered to drive her back in her little Volkswagen, and she hadn't argued; she hadn't said anything. Now he was worried. Did someone whammy her a little too hard? 

*** 

The words ran through Tracy's head over and over again. "Vampires do not exist." 

Something was not right here, and she couldn't get the thought out of her head. The words were wrong, she was certain of it, but she just couldn't remember why. 

Trying to get her to say something, _anything_, he said, "Pretty wild night, huh?" 

Tracy looked at Nick with the strangest expression. "Wild. Yeah, I'd say that." 

----------- Feedback raven@naturesong.com 

Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com We are the enforcements, resistance is futile, you will be silenced. 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: Retribution Date: Monday, July 12, 1999 5:37 PM 

All characters herein were borrowed, abused, and put back. Characters are owned and copyrighted by Sony Pictures/Tristar Corp and were created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen. I'm just borrowing them for awhile, I promise to put them back in relatively good condition. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarity to any real persons, living, dead or undead, or any other fan fiction, is purely coincidental. Also, nothing in this story is intended to offend anyone. If I screw something up, please let me know. (I know Miklos is from 2nd season and this is a 3rd season episode) 

The Toronto Files Episode 9 Retribution by Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) 

All Other episodes archived at http://www.naturesong.com/raven/tfiles.htm 

*** Nick dropped Tracy off at her apartment, then drove two streets down, parking beside a dark alley. He got out and flew to the roof of a neighboring house. He peered into her window and watched. 

*** 

Tracy stepped into the apartment, still feeling as if reality had somehow been pulled out from under her. The kitchen was the same, the living room, the bedroom were all the same, but somehow, she had changed. Could it have been the capture of the gang kids? No, she'd arrested children that age before and it never hurt her like this. She knew something was definately wrong. 

Systematically, she began to search her apartment. There must be some shred of what she'd lost somewhere. She just prayed she could find it before it drove her over the edge. 

*** 

On the roof, Nick watched her frantic room to room search. Something must be done. He took off and landed a short distance from Vachon's church. Quietly, he slipped in. 

"Nick?" Vachon's voice broke through the candlelit blackness of the church. 

"Yeah," Nick said. 

Vachon came out of the shadows, hair disheveled. He ran his hand through it and said, "What's up?" 

"Tracy. Something's wrong. I think somebody put the whammy on her last night at the club. Did you see anything?" 

"Nope, but I'll tell you if I hear anything." 

"Well, " Nick hesitated. "I was hoping you might go over there and check on her. She doesn't look good." 

Vachon smiled and glanced into the shadows. "Yeah, I could do that. Thanks for letting me know." 

"Yeah," Nick said, and then he was gone. 

Out of the shadows, Urs came forward. "Looks like it's a raincheck," she said. "See you later," she smiled and then she was gone too. 

Vachon sighed. "Women." 

*** 

Tracy tore through her house, overturning things in her search. She looked at the clock, it read 5:45. Almost sunup. Now, why the hell should I know that, she wondered. Her frustration built, and a tension headache began at the base of her skull. She tried to shake it off. 

A hunger pang started in her stomach, and she headed to the fridge, stepping over the mess. That'd be hell to clean up later. She opened the fridge and looked around. Sitting on the top shelf was a green bottle filled with dark fluid. "For guests," she murmured, then immediately wondered why she would have something like this. She popped the cork and sniffed. Nothing recognizable. Definately not wine. She was about to take a sip, just to find out what it was when... 

"I wouldn't do that." Vachon's voice broke the silence that had descended over the damage. 

Tracy stopped upending the bottle, and put it on the table. "Vachon," she said. 

He nodded. 

Suddenly, the sight of him was painful, and her headache increased ten-fold. The pain was so intense, she passed out, and Vachon caught her. 

"Damn it, Tracy, whoever caused this is going to pay, I promise you that." 

*** 

Nick pressed the button on the remote and the shutters closed out the rising sun. He tossed it on to the couch and picked up the phone. 

The phone rang a few times before Lucien's silken voice answered the phone, "Hello, Nicholas." 

Nick smiled. LaCroix always knew when it was him. "LaCroix, we've got a problem. Tracy was hypnotized at the Raven last night. Do you have any idea who could've done it, or why?" 

"Hmm..." LaCroix thought for a minute. "The only one I remember was Outlaw, it seems he talked to her just before you left." 

"Damn," Nick said. "That's what I thought too. Don't let him leave tonight, I have some things we need to discuss." 

On the other end, LaCroix smiled. "Yes, I thought you would." 

LaCroix looked over at Sarah, just drifting off to sleep. He approached her and laid down next to her cradling her in his arms. She smiled in her sleep. He whispered to her, "Ma chere, my lovely star, will you stay with me forever?" 

In her sleep, she woke just a bit and said, "Yes, Lucien, for as long as I live, I will stay with you." 

He smiled and held her close. In the back of his mind, a small seed of worry was planted. What if she should die? 

*** 

Tracy opened her eyes to darkness. She stretched out and felt her own bedcovers. She looked at her nightstand clock, it read 4:17 pm. She sighed. She'd slept the entire day away. At least her headache was gone. All this thinking made her wonder how had she gotten to bed. She looked down and noted she was still dressed as she was the night before. Confused, she turned on the lamp on the nightstand. It flooded the room with light. She gave a quick yelp when she saw Vachon sprawled out in her chair. He stirred slightly at the sound, but then became motionless again. On the floor at his feet was the green wine bottle, now quite empty. She put her hand over her mouth. 

"Vampires do not exist," she heard echo in her mind again. 

"No!" she said outloud. 

Vachon stirred awake and saw Tracy's pained expression. "Hey, hey, calm down, it's just me, just Javier. You're safe." 

Slowly, she started to calm down. "Vachon, it hurts." She held her head. 

"Relax, now, and look at me," she looked up and he looked deeply in her eyes. She didn't even flinch. "You don't remember what I am, do you?" 

She shook her head 'no'. 

"But, you know you trust me." 

This time she shook her head yes. 

He smiled. "Then trust me more. Tell me what he told you..tell me what you can't get out of your head." 

The pain started again, and she tried to fight it. "Vampires...do...not...exist." she finally spit out. 

Vachon smiled. "Okay, now look at me again. Remember, you trust me, I'm your friend." She nodded. 

His eyes started to golden. He could hear her heartbeat deep in her chest. "Vampires DO exist," he said. "I know, because I am one. You know that. You appreciate that. You still trust me." 

Tracy shook herself as the pain increased. "Don't exist," she murmured. 

In frustration, Vachon broke the hypnotism and shook her. She looked at him with fear in her eyes. Vachon vamped out totally, causing Tracy to let out another yelp. "They do exist." he said. 

*** 

Outlaw sat at the bar and talked to Miklos. Lucien watched them with interest. He'd told Miklos to keep Outlaw here no matter the cost, and Miklos had grudgingly complied. Lucien had to smile, Miklos looked about ready to burst from boredom. 

Lucien felt a disturbance and noted Nicholas had finally entered the club. He looked disheveled as if he'd flown over on a coffee break and had to be back soon. Lucien smiled yet again. "Silly mortal diversions..." then he started to his soundbooth, and had to laugh at himself and his own silly mortal diversions. 

*** 

After a shower and a change of clothes, Tracy felt better. Her headache was gone and the annoying hypnotizing thought had stopped. She smiled to herself. Vachon sure was a good friend. He'd left just after sunset after making sure she was okay. 

She stared at the mess her house was in. "Well, I'm off today," she mumbled, "Tonight's as good a night as any." Then she started to clean. 

*** 

Outlaw was telling Miklos about his life, his life before Ko-ran found him. "...it was horrible when I woke up that first night...the hunger..." 

Miklos looked as if he were about to burst. Even a bartender can only take so much. Nich approached them, and Miklos gratefully left. Outlaw turned his attention to Nick. "What's up?" 

Nick grabbed Outlaw by the collar and dragged him into the back office - again. Outlaw didn't fight this time, only said, "What'd I do this time?" 

Nick smiled. "You screwed with my partner's mind." 

"Oh, well, she needed it..." 

Nick shook him and banged him against the wall. "Don't you consider the consequences of what you do before you do them? We're part of her life now, whether we want it or not. When you took that away from her, you took away part of her." 

"Oh, jeez, I didn't know." 

"That's your excuse for everything." he mimicked Outlaw, "'I dint know.' You make me sick." 

Behind them, Lucien came into the room and took in the situation. He'd heard it from the other side of the door, but now he got to place them in his mind. He looked at Outlaw. "You. If you're not out of Toronto by dawn, I will personally hunt you down and show you what a wooden stake feels like." 

Fear invaded Outlaw's eyes, and he started to shake. Nick dropped him and he crawled out the office door. 

"Thank you, LaCroix," Nick whispered. 

"Nonesense. I'd have killed him myself. He's a threat to the code, and our residence here. He's trouble." 

Nick nodded. 

*** 

Outlaw stumbled to the bar. Ko-ran approached him. 

"What's wrong? What happened?" Ko-ran asked. 

"Umm..." he said. Stutteringly, he said, "It ap-p-p-ppears I'm no longer w-w-w-welcome here. I've got to get out of town by d-d-d-dawn." He started for the door. 

"Wait," Ko-ran said. "I'll go with you." He glanced over his shoulder and saw Nicholas and Lucien standing in the corridor to the back offices. He raised a hand to Lucien and said, "I will see you again, my friend. Take care of Sarah, won't you?" 

Across the bar, Lucien nodded. 

Slowly, Outlaw and Ko-ran made their way out of the bar, and to their motorcycles parked in the alley. 

Outlaw, now more in control of himself muttered, "I sure am going to miss this place." 

Ko-ran put his helmet on and said, "So am I, amigo, so am I." 

*** 

As the bikes roared into the night, Tracy finished cleaning up her apartment. 

"Whew, hope I don't do that again," she muttered. 

"Do what?" Vachon's voice boomed. 

Tracy jumped and turned to see him. He carried a bag of chinese take-out and handed it to her. "Thought you might be hungry." 

She smiled. "Vachon, what would I do without you?" 

*********** 

Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com We are the enforcements, resistance is futile, you will be silenced. 

From: Cousin Raven  To: Cousin Raven  Subject: Fevers and Death (1/1) Date: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 11:57 PM 

All characters herein were borrowed, abused, and put back. Characters are owned and copyrighted by Sony Pictures/Tristar Corp and were created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen. I'm just borrowing them for awhile, I promise to put them back in relatively good condition. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarity to any real persons, living, dead or undead, or any other fan fiction, is purely coincidental. Also, nothing in this story is intended to offend anyone. If I screw something up, please let me know. 

The Toronto Files - Episode 10 Fevers and Death By Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) _____________________________________ 

This story has spoilers from Fever. You'd probably understand it better if you've seen it too. ______________________________________ 

Lucien stared at the bed and at the woman he loved. She was so beautiful, so caring. She was perfect. He sighed and started down to the club. 

Just after Lucien left, Sarah stretched and woke up. She missed him when he was gone. She smiled to herself though, because she knew he loved that radio show. It was the one thing that helped him through all his crisis. It must be interesting to tell the world how you feel for a living. 

She got up and showered feeling the bubbles of soap coast over her body. She was so glad just to be alive. So many things had happened to her over her lifetime. Her mother had died when she was young, leaving her father to care for her. He'd done the best he could with her and her brother. She wished she could've told him not to worry, that everything was fine, that she was more than fine, that she was immortal, but she knew she could never do that. 

Lucien was wonderful to her. Everything Nick told her about him washed through her mind, but she dismissed most of it to circumstance. He did what he had to do, that's how it always worked. 

*** 

Nicholas came into the club and started to tell LaCroix about Screed's illness. 

LaCroix snorted his contempt. It was not possible that vampires become sick. They were eternal. He tried to tell this to Nicholas, but as usual, he wouldn't listen. As they spoke, Nicholas drank from LaCroix's cup. Strange for Nicholas, after all, it was Lucien's special human stock. Nicholas didn't seem to care. He thought his son's behavior was quite odd, but did not say anything. He still hoped that Nicholas would someday come around. The nerve, trying to tell him that some germ could kill them, it was preposterous. 

Finally, Nick rushed out of the Raven in frustration, staggering a bit. LaCroix sipped his blood and sighed. "Poor Nicholas and his fantasies," he said. 

*** 

Upstairs, Sarah dressed in a new black sequined dress. It was her birthday today, and LaCroix told her he had something special for her, so she wanted to look her best. 

She squeezed her feet into her pumps and started down the stairs to the Raven. 

*** 

"My lovely star, you look wonderful," Lucien complemented Sarah as she approached him at the bar. His smile was warm and genuine. He took her hand and guided her to a seat beside him. 

"I hoped you'd like it," she said. 

"I love it," he said, "And I love you." He kissed her lightly on the lips. >From his pocket he took a small maroon velvet box out and handed it to her. 

"What is it?" she asked excitedly. 

"Open it and find out." 

She giggled and opened the pretty box. She could hardly contain her excitement as she peered into the case. A single two caret ruby surrounded with a wonderful ribbon of gold all around it on a pretty gold rope chain. He smile was one of wonder. She took it out of the box and put it around her neck. The stone hung in the perfect spot a few inches above her cleavage. 

"It's beautiful," she said and kissed him in thanks. 

"It was you. You have my heart. Forever." 

"Oh, Lucien." was all she could say. 

They sat in a happy silence for a few moments, then Sarah sipped from LaCroix's glass and said, "Was that Nicholas I saw stagger out of here? He didn't look so good." 

"Yes," LaCroix said as he got another glass of 'wine'. "It seems Nicholas believes one of us has caught some type of germ. Quite foolish really." 

"What if it were possible, Lucien?" 

"No. Nothing has ever touched us. Not AIDS, not bubonic plague, nothing." 

"Hmm," Sarah said, and sipped from the glass again. 

*** 

The night waned, and day was coming soon. Lucien had hired an entire band to serenade Sarah with it's rendition of "Happy Birthday". It was quite a site, especially since the 'band' he'd hired consisted of a trumpet player, a saxophone, and a guy with a drum. Toward the end of the night though, Sarah didn't feel too hot. Actually, that was the problem, she felt too hot. In her quest for relief, she staggered out into the back alley, thankful for the cool air on such a warm night. 

Out in the alley, she heard a cough and was about to go back into the stuffy club, when the cough became a moan. Curious, even in her fever, she sought out the intruder. She came upon him near the dumpster, he was ragged and filthy, and mortal. The more she looked at his pathetic form, the more her pity turned to something else, something sinister. She hungered. 

Unable to control herself, she pounced, draining the lifeblood from him in one fell swoop. Her next thought was "More. Must have more." 

She hid in the shadows of the alley, waiting, watching. Soon, a streetwalker passed her by, and she pulled her in, draining her as she did. 

"What are you doing?" Lucien had come from the club to look for her. 

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. The body slumped back exposing the marks of her vicious attack. "I'm sorry, Lucien. I don't know what happened, I feel hot, and hungry..." 

"Oh, no," he said. What if Nicholas was right? 

*** 

Lucien had helped Sarah back up to their room then had disposed of the bodies, giving her strict instructions to stay upstairs. Her hunger and desperation caused her to call downstairs and have a case of 'wine' brought up. The mortal that delivered it appeared quite bored with the whole affair, and just wanted to go home. He was lucky he made it out alive. 

Sarah stared at the ceiling and drank, drowning her pain, her fever. Blood was the cure for all her hurts, she consoled herself. 

Lucien returned and tried to comfort her, but he'd started coughing himself. He started to think how unready he was to die. All his two thousand years had not prepared him for death, only to live still more. Bitterness and anger welled up in him. He still did not want to die, only to live. He would find a way, they all would. He would do everything in his power to make it so. 

He held Sarah as she coughed and spasmed. The new day dawned, but Lucien didn't notice, he only noticed Sarah's pain and anguish. It was worse for her, she was so young, in vampire terms. Her pain was terrible, and he wished he could take all her pain away and have it himself. She didn't deserve this. 

Just before sundown, Sarah finally stopped spasming. She looked Lucien in the eye. "I love you, my general," 

Lucien looked at her with a pained expression. "I love you too." 

Then she took a breath, and was gone. 

"No," Lucien said. "NO, NO, NO, NO, ...NO!" 

He stood in a fit of rage and started to smash everything in sight. The mirror, the dressers the bed itself. Everything splintered beneath his hand. Finally, a spasm of coughs shook him and forced him to stop. Splinters stuck out of his hand, numbing it. Carefully, he pulled them out. "Not that it matters," he said in a somewhat more subdued manner. "I'll be dead by tonight." 

In a rage, he walked down the stairs to deliver his last monologue. 

*** [Fever monologue start] 

[SCENE: LaCroix on the air as the Nightcrawler. As he speaks, he gazes out through the one-way glass that separates the booth from the Raven, watching the crowd.] 

LaCroix: They say the ages of man are denial, awareness, and acceptance. A young man believes he will live forever. A middle- aged man knows he will not. And an old man is ready. [pause] What then of those taken out of sequence? How to prepare them for the bitter end? A man who knows he will not die is a young man. He is kept young by the knowledge that death shall have no dominion. [He coughs] There's nothing so hard as watching that die. A dozen in a single night. My children and my people, who should have lived forever, living their last. Who would have ever believed that they would die?... My people... My children. One short sleep past, we wake eternally and Death shall be no more. [whispered] Death, thou shalt die! [whispered/ragged] We will survive! 

[End Fever Monologe] 

The monologue was bitter and angry, punctuated throughout with coughs and spasms. 

The main thoughts going through his mind as he spoke were no different for the past hour. 'No. We can't die, we will live. And...we will get revenge. I'll make sure of that myself.' 

*** 

It wasn't hard to find out who the police had been questioning, where the disease came from, the rat that escaped because of one man, one foolish, foolish man. He found his name from a suddenly very cooperative desk sergeant, who even fetched the address for him and told him he was being questioned as they spoke. Even in this ragged, sickened state, Lucien still commanded power. 

He invaded the house through the back door, destroying the lock as he did. The owner would not need it anymore anyway. 

The culprit, Calvin Tucker, came into the house through the front door, preoccupied with his own situation. 

Lucien surprised him, demanding justice, demanding retribution, but he took the only thing Calvin had to give - his blood. 

The blood poured into him just as the flaming pain of hunger started. He felt it rush like ice through his body, cooling his fever, stilling his pain. He stopped before the man was drained, but after he had died. This was the cure. The poison he harbored in his veins was the cure for their disease. Oh, if only he'd known a few hours earlier. 

Picking up the body, he flew at full strength to the Coroner's lab. Doctor Lambert would see the results of her hypocrisy. 

He was in the lab when Nicholas and Dr. Lambert walked in. Nicholas immediately became defensive for her, even in his weakened state, he still tried to protect these puny mortals. 

Nicholas's surprise at him not being sick anymore came as a quiet victory. Lucien's attitude toward life, his refusal to just give in and die, had saved them all in the end. Well, almost. Lucien would give it all up just to have Sarah back again. 

*** 

Lucien stared at the sky, at the stars. Was his beloved watching now? Was she pleased? These idle thoughts surrounded him, and he brushed them aside. His love was gone. Everyone he had ever loved had left him one way or another. He sighed. 

The city park was at peace tonight, no lone joggers to feed from, no homeless. He finished his task, aligning her head toward the east for the rising sun. He hoped she would be happy wherever she was. He covered her with the moist dirt, placing a small rose bush over her grave. 

He stared at the rose bush he'd planted. It would bloom large white roses come spring. He'd always loved white roses, ever since Fleur. The thought of Fleur brought yet another tear to his eye. So much sadness, so much death. Sometimes he wondered if he'd ever find someone to be happy with, someone to love for all eternity. It seemed as if eternity was determined to keep him alone. 

He sighed and his blood tears fell onto the newly dug grave. In his hand he held her ruby necklace. She'd only worn it a single night. Everyone had taken some small part of his heart, this was all he had left: a cold dead stone. The pain washed over him again and he tried to fight it, tried to fight the loneliness. Eternity is such a long time to be alone. 

A voice spoke from behind him, Nicholas' voice. 

"I wasn't sure where you'd be. I thought you could use some company." 

Lucien smiled a sad smile. "They always leave, one way or another." 

Nicholas smiled and said, "But some of us return when you really need us." 

"Yes, Nicholas." 

"Come on, LaCroix, it's time to go home." Nicholas prodded, and Lucien knew he was right. 

*** 

------------------------------------ 

Okay, that's it. The end of the Toronto Files. So, you read this much, kindly take a few minutes to tell me what you think... send to 

-------Cut here-------------------- 

Toronto Files Questionnaire ___________________________ 

Did you like the series? Why? 

What was your favorite episode/scene/line? Why? 

What was your least favorite episode/scene/line? Why? 

What (created) characters did you like best? Why? 

Did you visit my Toronto Files page? If yes, did you agree with the soundtrack songs and the choices for the cast? If no, please tell me what/who you would've chosen. 

Would you be interested in reading other spinoffs from the 1st or 2nd season? ---------------------------------- 

I do intend to revamp the series later on, after I've had more practice, more experience...basically, after the war, so be watching for that. I'll probably just put it on the page...unless I can get McLisa to let me repost it. It all depends on how much I actually change. I'll probably put a prologue and epilogue in, and make it more elegant. 

---------------------------------- 

Great big special thank you's and dark chocolate fudge go out to the following who helped me so much in this series, either providing information or encouragement. 

Thanks much! 

=) Marilyn W. T =) Loreliei S. H =) Teri D. A =) Bali N =) Kyer K =) Jeff B. =) Kylie Y =) Judy O =) Monica R. U =) Jan W. =) Miranda S =) Clare O =) Libby #2 =) Becky M =) Marc D. U =) Becky G-Berger C =) H =) And anybody I might have missed! ! =) 

Cousin Raven (raven@naturesong.com) http://www.naturesong.com 


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